NY Broadband Speed Suit Against Charter Remanded to State Court

A federal judge remanded to New York Supreme Court litigation against Charter Communications that had moved from the state court to U.S. District Court earlier this year (see 1702270062). In an order (in Pacer) filed Thursday, U.S District Judge Colleen McMahon of Manhattan dismissed Charter arguments that the federal Communications Act is the exclusive remedy for false advertising and consumer protection claims against broadband providers, saying a Charter assertion that the New York claims brought by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman are federally pre-empted isn't enough to give U.S. District Court jurisdiction. McMahon said the act's savings clause clearly indicates Congress didn't intend for it to be the exclusive remedy for redressing false advertising and consumer protection claims against common carriers. The judge said the FCC has never suggested the act completely pre-empts state law causes of action. In a statement Friday, the AG said the ruling "upholds a vital principle: that an Internet service provider who cheats New Yorkers out of the Internet speeds and performance they were promised can face justice in a New York state court. With that issue resolved, we look forward to pressing ahead in state court and to continuing our effort to hold Spectrum-Time Warner Cable to account for what we allege was a deliberate and systematic scheme to defraud customers.” The attorney general moved in March to have the suit -- alleging Charter deliberately lied to customers about internet speeds (see 1702010048) -- remanded. In a statement, Charter said it "will mount a strong defense against the lawsuit’s allegations involving TWC’s practices. We continue to focus on the customer, upgrading Time Warner Cable systems, instituting new policies and procedures to better ensure a positive customer experience, and rolling out Charter’s simplified and customer friendly Spectrum pricing and packaging.”