PHILADELPHIA – A group of inmates and their family members has sued a telecommunications firm, alleging unjust enrichment dating to 2000.
The plaintiffs filed a class action complaint April 23 against Global Tel*Link Corporation (GTL) of Reston, Va., in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, claiming unfair trade practices from January 2000 to the present.
All parties named as plaintiffs either are incarcerated or are family members of detainees in the prison system. Invoking the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, the plaintiffs allege unjust, unreasonable, unfair and deceptive conduct beginning Jan. 1, 2000.
The suit states that the defendant charges rates and fees up to 100 times the normal market rates for intrastate telephone usage to and from correctional facilities throughout the United States, including Pennsylvania.
Altogether, GTL and at least four subsidiaries in four different states serve more than 2,000 correctional facilities and 1.1 million inmates in 48 states via contracts, with no competitive market forces to influence its pricing habits, the suit claims.
The suit alleges that GTL pays kickbacks to the contracting prisons.
Additionally, the plaintiffs claim, GTL imposes exorbitant fees and charges on accounts used for inmate telephone calls. The filing cited a previous FCC study of the defendant’s practices concluding that commission “payments” to participating prisons are profit-sharing kickback arrangements.
Claiming FCC violations, the plaintiffs seek certification of class action; declaratory judgment; compensatory damages and restitution; pre- and post- judgment interest; attorneys’ fees, and court costs.
The group is represented by Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check in Radnor; Law Offices of Susan L. Burke in Baltimore; Berger & Montague in Philadelphia; and Saltz, Mongeluzzi, Barrett & Bendesky, Philadelphia.
The plaintiffs are Earl Reese, Walter Chruby, Stephen Orosz Jr., Michael Veon, Larry Bageant, Luann Bouvier, Wesley Harper, Robert Holmes, Stephen and Emily Orosz, Carl Peterkin, Stephanie Veon, and Lewis Brooks
U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:15-cv-02197
