A federal judge in California last week invalidated an arbitration-only policy by long-distance giant, AT&T Corp.
“I find AT&T’s principal purpose was to put sufficient obstacles in the path of litigants to effectively deter many claims from being pursued,” said U.S. Magistrate Judge Bernard Zimmerman.
The ruling was issued by the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California and applies to 7 million AT&T customers.
AT&T announced the arbitration-only policy last summer after the Federal Communications Commission said long-distance carriers no longer had to file rates with the agency. Zimmerman objected because customers were not given a choice as to whether to agree to an arbitration-only policy.
It is accepted policy in the wireless telecommunications sector for consumers to be subjected to arbitration when seeking relief as part of the contract customers agree to when signing up for service.
