Telecom Group Attains Key Victory Dismissing Multiple Class Actions

Kelley Drye achieved a significant victory on behalf of NOS Communications, Inc. and Affinity Network Incorporated, two telecommunications carriers, dismissing eight class action suits that were filed against them in courts across the country. Each of the class action complaints were based on allegations of misleading and deceptive telemarketing and advertising practices, and asserted claims under the Federal Communications Act and state consumer fraud law.

In 2001, the suits were combined for pre-trial proceedings in a multi-district litigation in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. After the District Court refused to compel the suits to arbitration in 2003, NOS and Affinity moved to dismiss each of the plaintiffs’ complaints based largely on the argument that all of the claims were barred by the filed tariff doctrine.” By Order entered September 22, 2004, the District Court granted NOS’s and Affinity’s motion to dismiss, following the reasoning of the motion in virtually every respect.