Verizon Settles With 27 Consumers Days Before Appeal's Oral Argument

Verizon reached a settlement in principle with 27 consumers in its 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals challenge of the district court’s July 1 decision denying its motion to compel the consumers’ claims to arbitration (see 2303190001), said their joint notice of settlement Thursday (docket 22-16020). The appeal had been scheduled for Tuesday oral argument before the 9th Circuit (see 2309110041). Verizon and the plaintiffs ask that the case be removed from the argument calendar and “held in abeyance pending consummation of the settlement,” said the notice. The case originated from a November 2021 class action challenging Verizon’s alleged practice of padding consumers’ monthly wireless bills with a secretive “administrative charge” that kept climbing higher and higher above the flat monthly rates it was advertising.