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The Hawaii Supreme Court Fri. denied a $300 million class action ...

The Hawaii Supreme Court Fri. denied a $300 million class action suit against Verizon Hawaii challenging a surcharge on touch tone service. Plaintiffs said Verizon engaged in unfair trade practice by imposing the surcharge without telling consumers they get…

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touch tone service simply by plugging a phone into a jack, without signing up for it or paying a fee. The court said the surcharge was lawful under the filed-rate doctrine because the charges appear in tariffs approved by state regulators. Wiley, Rein & Fielding attorneys who argued the case said awarding damages “would violate the filed-rate doctrine by effectively imposing a lower rate for [touch tone] services than that explicitly set and repeatedly affirmed by state regulators in several tariffs.”