Verizon Settles ETF Suit for $21M, Avoids Judgment Day

From DailyTech: Verizon Wireless must pay 175,000 plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit a $21 million settlement, The Wall Street Journal reports.

A California court of appeals has upheld the 2008 settlement, which dates back to an original complaint over early termination fees filed in 1999, when the nation's largest carrier charged a flat $175 to break a wireless-service contract.

Plaintiffs are expected to be refunded at least half of the amount of the early termination fee ($87.50) as a result of the settlement.

"Yesterday's ruling by the Court of Appeal confirms that this is a terrific settlement for Verizon Wireless customers, and now more than 175,000 of those customers will get a substantial refund," an attorney for the plaintiffs told Dow Jones Newswires.

The settlement has ended all major litigation surrounding Verizon's ETFs.

Because it pertains to a flat early termination fee policy -- where it costs consumers the same amount to break a contract in its first month as it does in the 23rd month -- the settlement should have little impact on the wireless industry's current practice. Verizon began prorating ETFs in 2006 and the other major carriers have followed suit.

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