WASHINGTON-A federal court in New York erred and abused its discretion in rejecting a class-action suit alleging Cingular Wireless L.L.C., Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA Inc. violated antitrust laws by agreeing to tie cell phone sales to the purchase of wireless service, plaintiffs’ lawyers told the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“During discovery plaintiffs obtained evidence of numerous meetings during which representatives from each defendant discussed and participated in the alleged conspiracy,” said plaintiffs’ lawyers in their opening brief. “Based on the evidence, plaintiffs sought leave to file a second amended complaint to more specifically plead claims for conspiracy to tie, and to add counts for conspiracy to restrain trade, conspiracy to monopolize, and for contracts in restraint of trade. Plaintiffs’ motion for leave to file a second amended complaint was made within five months after defendants’ initial production of more than 500,000 pages of documents.”
But, plaintiffs’ lawyers added, the lower court denied their motion to leave to amend on the ground that plaintiffs had failed to show “good cause” for the amendment.
While the court appeal plays out, the same trial lawyers are getting more traction in a second antitrust suit pending in the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. That action makes a direct conspiracy claim against the nation’s largest cellular operators, which they could find harder to defend against.
The mobile phone industry asserts there is not a general policy on `phone locking,’ noting consumers are free to switch carriers or buy a subsidized phone without accompanying service.
