The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia has ruled that Verizon customers who take issue with “fraudulent” cell phone charges must arbitrate individually with the carrier instead of filing a class-action lawsuit in court, Reuters recently reported. A group of current and former Verizon Wireless customers originally filed a class-action lawsuit arguing that it was “unconscionable” for Verizon Wireless to require customers to arbitrate any unfair charges in their contracts. According to Reuters, arbitration can often be viewed as favorable for a large company because it can be more expensive for consumers to file charges in courts individually instead of as a group. In October of last year, the Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau ordered Verizon Wireless to pay $52.8 million to 15 million customers due to fraudulent data charges.
