Wash. ALJ Finds Lumen Wrongly Disconnected Phones in Pandemic
Lumen’s CenturyLink may have to pay $923,000 for illegally disconnecting phone lines during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission said Thursday. The company has 20 days to ask state commissioners to review an administrative law judge’s initial…
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order, the UTC said. The telco involuntarily disconnected or suspended 923 telephone accounts during an emergency proclamation by Gov. Jay Inslee (D) from March 2020 to October 2021, said the UTC. Lumen argued it shouldn’t be penalized because the disconnections were inadvertent and affected a small percentage of its customers. "As a large portion of the disconnection process is automated and involves different billing systems," Washington state's "extended COVID-19 moratorium posed a challenge," a Lumen spokesperson said. "As a result, a small portion of our customers were disconnected in error." The spokesperson noted Lumen quickly joined the FCC's Keep Americans Connected pledge and extended pandemic policies beyond required dates.