Supreme Court Upholds Right to Sue Over FCC Law Violations

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a ruling that enables companies to sue over alleged violations of federal communications law, according to an Associated Press report. The ruling also reinforced the regulatory authority of the Federal Communications Commission.

 

The decision, a 7-2 vote, meant that pay phone provider Metrophones Telecommunications Inc. can pursue a suit against Global Crossing Telecommunications Inc. The case involved payments for coinless calls on Metrophones’ payphones over Global’s network that required special access codes, according to the report.

 

Although Global Crossing had argued that past Supreme Court decisions stated that the right to sue stood ground on law rather than regulatory violations, the federal government took the position that Global Crossing’s position would undermine the regulatory authority of the FCC (News - Alert), the report said.

 

Justice Stephen Breyer was quoted in the majority position as stating “It is well within the FCC’s authority to find that failing to make such payments is an unreasonable justice.” Global Crossing had argued that communications law does not require carriers to repay payphone operators for coinless calls, the report said.

 

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held the law’s general prohibition against “unjust and unlawful” practices enabled Metrophones to file the suit. The FCC had issued an order in 2003 that applies the “unjust and unlawful” language to deal with issues such as those expressed by Metrophones, according to the report.