Judge Extends Deadline in Verizon ‘Tortious Interference’ Suit

U.S. District Judge David Hale in Louisville signed an order Tuesday extending to Nov. 11 Verizon's deadline to answer a complaint from the former supplier of retail store cabinets to a wireless reseller in Tennessee that claims Verizon caused “significant damage” to its business when it forced the reseller to source its store fixtures from another supplier. Midwest Cabinet Suppliers before 2019 “had an ongoing and long-standing business relationship” with Cellular Sales of Knoxville (CSK) under which it manufactured and installed cabinets for all of CSK’s retail stores in numerous U.S. locations, said Midwest’s complaint Sept. 19 in U.S. District Court in Louisville (docket 3:22-cv-00493). Verizon required CSK to sign a new contract in late 2018 to maintain its standing as an authorized Verizon reseller, it said. The contract amounted to an “illegal tying agreement” in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act because it required CSK to purchase cabinets exclusively from a competitive supplier, it said. Verizon’s actions caused Midwest “the loss of thousands of dollars of revenue” and “the near total destruction” of its business with CSK, said the complaint. Based on Verizon’s “tortious interference with its business relationship with CSK, Midwest is entitled to recover from Verizon appropriate compensatory damages,” it said.