7th Circuit Reverses Lower Court Intercarrier Ruling for Peerless Against Verizon
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned much of a district court ruling that sided with Peerless Network on claims Verizon breached tariffs by withholding payments in an intercarrier compensation dispute. The U.S. Northern District of Illinois erred in…
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granting partial final judgment to Peerless, under federal civil procedure rule 54(b), on its claims that also included state tariffs "despite their significant factual overlap with pending claims," wrote Judge Amy St. Eve Wednesday, joined by Chief Judge Diane Wood and Judge Michael Brennan, in Peerless v. MCI Communications and Verizon, No. 18-2747. "A genuine issue of fact persists with respect to certain breach-of-contract claims. We therefore vacate the Rule 54(b) judgment on certain counts, dismiss in part for lack of jurisdiction, and otherwise reverse and remand." Peerless sued Verizon long-distance operations for withholding payment, which Verizon said was justified because Peerless was an "access stimulator." The district court sided with some Peerless claims and found it would be "unjust" to make it wait to collect until the FCC resolved issues referred to it. The 7th Circuit found claims before them and those stayed in district court "are factually and legally intertwined," ruling the lower court erred in granting partial final judgment on four tariff counts. They concluded it erred in "its liability determination and improperly granted" Peerless summary judgment on two counts alleging tandem service agreement breach. The companies didn't comment Friday.