SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- In 1999 Linda Roark, a Southern California resident called Verizon to complain that she was being over billed. After months of being ignored, she filed a class action lawsuit against Verizon for unfair and deceptive billing practices. See Linda Roark, et al. v. GTE California, (renamed Verizon, California, Inc), Case No. 01035862 Cal. Super. Ct, Santa Barbara County, August 10, 2000. In September 2003, the Court approved a settlement requiring Verizon to pay $20 million to its California consumers.

The overcharging was caused by a billing problem known to Verizon as an "out-of-sync" condition. While Verizon had an internal system in place designed to locate out-of-sync conditions; once found, overcharges were not returned to Verizon's customers. In most cases, the customers never knew they were over billed. It is estimated that in 1999, Verizon had at least 5% of its customers in an "out-of-sync" condition. These "out-of-sync" conditions lead to erroneous billings throughout the country. It is estimated that nationwide, 1,500,000 customers are affected per month.

Having resolved the California portion of the Verizon matter, Foley & Bezek is now aggressively pursuing the matter on a nationwide basis.

Santa Barbara attorneys, Peter J. Bezek, Esq., of Foley & Bezek and J. Paul Gignac of Arias, Ozzello & Gignac represented the plaintiffs. A complete copy of the complaint and settlement agreement can be obtained on the web at www.FoleyBezek.com.

Verizon Communications Inc.