LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - Sprint is backed into a federal class action lawsuit for allegedly misleading consumers and violating California's Unfair Competition Law and the Consumer Legal Remedies Act.
The complaint was filed on May 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California by plaintiffs Teresa Gutierrez and Michael Camou.
According to the complaint, Sprint was sued in regard to its Flex Lease Agreement program, a cell phone plan marketed as affordable with low monthly payments and a contract cancellation option.
The plaintiffs allege that consumers are forced to pay significantly more than the value of their phones because of the mobile carrier's monthly charges after the lease ends, the requirement to make additional payments at the end of the lease in order to own the device and the inability for consumers to cancel their contract after the lease period has ended.
Sprint allegedly tells its users that they will be notified when their Flex Lease Agreement program is nearing the plan period end so that they may choose another option, but many consumers say they were never notified and continued to make indefinite monthly payments.
The carrier allegedly prevents consumers from buying their devices while also preventing them from canceling their phone plans, leaving the consumers to lease their devices with no other options.
Sprint is accused of violating California Unfair Competition Law, violating California's Consumer Legal Remedies Act, common law fraud, conversion and unjust enrichment.
The plaintiffs are represented by Nye, Stirling, Hale and miller LLP of Santa Barbara.