Verizon Summary Judgment Motion 'Meritless' in Breach of Contract Suit: CBE

Verizon's motion for summary judgment in a breach of contract lawsuit (docket 1:22-cv-8703) brought against its debt collector, CBE Customer Solutions, is “ill-considered and meritless,” said CBE in a memorandum in opposition Friday in U.S. District Court for Southern New York in Manhattan. Verizon filed a memorandum last month saying CBE should indemnify the carrier for fees and costs it incurs in defending claims arising from CBE’s services (see 2212200030). In 2016, CBE “negligently failed to remove a non-customer” from a Verizon call list it was hired to manage, leading to a Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action against Verizon and a multimillion-dollar settlement. Verizon requested indemnification from CBE for its losses under the parties’ written agreement “but CBE refused,” prompting Verizon to file a lawsuit to seek enforcement of the indemnification provision, it said. CBE countersued for unjust enrichment and breach of the implied covenant of good faith, alleging any negligence that mushroomed into a TCPA class action and settlement was of Verizon’s doing, not CBE’s (see 2212140027). In its opposition Friday, CBE asserted Verizon made “premature and improper demands” for indemnity to “badger” CBE into underwriting the costs of Verizon’s “noncompliance” with the TCPA. On the counterclaim of unjust enrichment, CBE said, “When one party to a contract unjustly enriches itself at the expense of the other party and where such enrichment is outside the scope of their contract, the written agreement does not control, and a claim in quasi-contract exists.”