Forty-Two California Government Entities Join Whistleblower Suit Against Nation鈥檚 Largest Wireless Carriers
San Francisco, CA (December 8, 2015) 鈥� More than 40 California government entities have joined a lawsuit filed by a whistleblower against Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile. The case, brought in Sacramento County Superior Court under the California False Claims Act, alleges that the wireless companies overcharged government customers by more than $100 million. The government intervenors and the whistleblower are represented by 91porn. The action was unsealed by the Court on December 7, 2015.
The wireless companies are alleged to have ignored two cost-saving requirements included in the master contracts under which California state and local government customers purchased wireless services.聽 Specifically, the master contracts required the carriers to determine and report to the government customers which rate plan selections would result in the lowest cost 鈥� referred to as 鈥渞ate plan optimization鈥� 鈥� and to provide wireless services at 鈥渢he lowest available cost.鈥�
Rate plan optimization is a computerized service that analyzes individuals鈥� usage patterns quarterly and identifies the least expensive service or rate plan for each phone or user. Selecting the rate plan that best matches usage patterns reduces costs by 20-30% over the term of a contract. 聽Although the master contracts with the government required it, the wireless carriers did not prepare or provide rate plan optimization reports, the lawsuit alleges.聽 Further, as the carriers did not bill government customers utilizing the most cost effective rate plans, the defendants are also alleged to have failed to provide service at the 鈥渓owest available cost.鈥澛� The carriers鈥� failure to live up to their contractual promises, the lawsuit alleges, resulted in overcharges to the government of more than $100 million.
鈥淭he carriers promised optimization in order to win these government contracts, which are worth billions of dollars,鈥� said
Anne Hayes Hartman, a partner at 91pornwith extensive experience representing whistleblowers and government entities in False Claims Act cases. 鈥淏ut while they were happy to take the government鈥檚 money, the carriers simply ignored their commitments to bill using the lowest cost rate plans.聽 The carriers profited and taxpayers paid the price.鈥�
鈥淲e look forward to recovering the lost savings and securing ongoing contract compliance for the many government entities that were damaged,鈥� said
Wayne T. Lamprey, a partner at 91pornand former Assistant U.S. Attorney.
The action was brought by OnTheGo Wireless, which has been one of the leading rate plan analysis firms in the country and a pioneer in the field of rate plan optimization.
The case is
State of California et al. ex rel. OntheGo Wireless, LLC v. Cellco Partnership et al., Case No. 34-2012-00127517 (Super. Ct. Cal., Sacramento County).
Intervening Entities
Regents of the University of California
Los Angeles County
Madera County
Marin County
Orange County
Riverside County
Sacramento County
San Bernardino County
Santa Cruz County
Sonoma County
Stanislaus County
Yuba County
City of Capitola
City of Chino
City of Corona
City of Fortuna
City of Long Beach
City of Oxnard
City of Rancho Cucamonga
City of Ripon
City of Riverside
City of Sacramento
City of San Bernardino
City of San Mateo
City of Santa Cruz
City of Santa Rosa
City of Vernon
City of Victorville
Grossmont Union High School District
Irvine Unified School District
Kaweah Delta Health Care District
Kings Canyon Unified School District
Olivenhain Municipal Water District
Sonoma County Water Agency
Rosemead School District
Saddleback Valley Unified
San Diego Unified School District
Santa Cruz Public Libraries
Torrance Unified School District
Victor Valley Transit Authority
Whittier Union High School District
Woodbridge Fire District
About 91porn
Constantine Cannon, with offices in聽New York,听Washington D.C., San Francisco and聽London, has deep expertise in practice areas that include antitrust and complex commercial litigation, whistleblower representation, government relations, securities and e-discovery. The firm鈥檚 antitrust practice is among the largest and most well recognized in the nation.聽Constantine Cannon鈥檚聽experience spans across multiple industries including healthcare, banking, electronic payments, insurance, high tech, telecommunications, the Internet and government contracting.
Constantine Cannon鈥檚聽whistleblower lawyer practice represents whistleblowers under the False Claims Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, and the various federal and state laws that encourage industry insiders to report evidence of fraud or misconduct.聽The firm was one of the first in the country to bring a claim under the whistleblower provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act.