WASHINGTON-A federal judge sent back to state court a lawsuit to stop Nextel Communications Inc. and Sprint PCS from listing charges on mobile-phone bills that Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon has called misleading and deceptive.
The judge, according to the Missouri AG’s office, yesterday afternoon also denied the wireless carriers’ motions to dismiss the case and to transfer it to another venue. Moreover, the state said the court ordered Nextel and Sprint PCS to pay the state $3,000 as reimbursement for “unnecessary litigation costs caused by the defendants.”
Last December, Nixon asked the St. Louis City Circuit Court to issue a temporary restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunctions against the wireless firms. Nextel and Sprint PCS promptly got the case moved to federal court.
The state lawsuit takes issue with the alleged billing practice of raising rates by itemizing charges on consumer bills in a way to make it appear to be a tax or other government-mandated fee.
“Nextel and Sprint are understating their monthly rates by deceptively listing this amount on the bills,” said Nixon when he filed the suit last year.
