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We’re breaking some new ground in the cellular world. See, there’s this little clause in your contract that says you waive your Constitutional right to a trial by jury if you are somehow wronged by your company — in this case, AT&T. However, AT&T made a considerable gaffe during their merger with Cingular, and more than one subscriber is P.O.d. So they did what most people would do in that situation, which is to file a class-action suit. However, the litigation can’t begin until they clear the arbitration hurdle. The class is saying they deserve their day in court. AT&T is saying no, you signed an agreement. The plaintiff’s lawyers, however, have filed papers in a federal court in Seattle to have this clause quashed and have the case move forward.

We saw this last year, with T-Mobile’s arbitration being ruled “unconscionable and unenforceable,” by a 9th Circuit judge. So we’ll see if this suit follows.

“At stake here is the right of AT&T customers to get a fair hearing and obtain justice,” said Harvey Rosenfield, a lawyer with the non-profit Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR). “If the court rules that AT&T and Cingular’s customers cannot join together to sue these companies, then the companies will never be held accountable.”

For some background on the case, Cingular customers were assured that they would see no downgrading of service during the merger. However, the class in this case is alleging that AT&T “deliberately” made the network not function optimally. This, they say, was a ploy to get people to switch to AT&T’s blue network, which meant paying an $18 upgrade fee. And if you wanted to get out of your contract, well, there’s the $175 termination fee. And there was nothing a customer could do otherwise.

So they banded together and railed against corporate oppression. I obviously can’t say whether the allegations are true — that’s for a jury to decide. And that’s the entire point, isn’t it? AT&T is facing accusations of wronging. They should be put to trial, then, right? Isn’t that how the system works?

Clearly, we’re seeing the very reason why cell companies insert the arbitration clause in contracts. Hopefully, in time, we can get a ruling to bar them from forcing us to waive our Constitutional rights, just so we can have cell phone service.

[Sun Herald]

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