CenturyLink will now be dealing with a consumer lawsuit filed by the state of Minnesota. The filing makes Minnesota the eighth state, including Arizona, in which the company has been charged with fraud.
The Minnesota lawsuit, filed by Attorney General Lori Swanson, alleges CenturyLink billed consumers much higher prices for broadband Internet and TV service than what sales agents originally quoted — in some cases, two to three times as much.
The first action against the telecommunications giant occurred in Arizona, when a former CenturyLink employee filed a suit saying she was wrongfully fired for notifying the company about unlawful billing practices. Subsequently, separate class-action suits have been filed in seven more states: California, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
In those complaints, consumers said they were charged higher-than-quoted prices and billed for phone lines and services that they never requested. Damages to CenturyLink's customers — which number close to 6 million — are estimated to range from $600 million to $12 billion.
