Elder
Elder v. Pacific Bell Telephone Co.
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Jenkins, J.
*845 Opinion
Plaintiff Rex Elder, individually and on behalf of a class of similarly situated individuals, filed this lawsuit seeking relief against defendants Pacific Bell Telephone Company (hereafter Pacific Bell) and ACI Billing Services, Inc., doing business as OAN (hereafter OAN) 1 for the inclusion of allegedly unauthorized charges on a subscriber’s telephone bill, a practice known as “cramming,” in violation of Public Utilities Code section 2890, subdivision (a). We agree with plaintiff that the superior court erred in sustaining defendants’ demurrers without leave to amend. Accordingly, the judgment of dismissal is reversed and the matter is remanded for further proceedings.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
A. Law Relating to Cramming
In 1998, the Legislature added sections 2889.9 and 2890 to the Public Utilities Code 2 to address “cramming,” which is the practice of including unauthorized charges on a subscriber’s telephone bill. (See Stats. 1998, ch. 1036, § 2, p. 7795; Stats. 1998, ch. 1041, § 3, p. 7971, amended by Stats. 1999, ch. 1005, § 65.7, p. 7711, and by Stats. 2000, ch. 931, § 4, p. 6959.) In pertinent part, section 2889.9 reads; “(a) No person or…