Simplifi Router Failure on AT&T Network Led to Sewage Flood in Medical Lab: Suit

AT&T removed a Dec. 15 fraud case involving an allegedly faulty Simplifi router operating on its FirstNet network from Circuit Court of Waukesha County to the U.S. District Court for Eastern Wisconsin in Milwaukee, said its notice of removal Monday (docket 2:24-cv-00088).

Waukesha, Wisconsin-based plaintiff Coppe Healthcare Solutions, a research lab specializing in emerging viral diseases, sued Simplifi, its parent company Brightsky and AT&T over a sewer overflow caused by faulty Simplifi routers operating on AT&T’s FirstNet network that caused neighboring Pewaukee, Wisconsin's Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system (SCADA) to fail, leading to the flooding of Coppe's lab with sewage in January 2023, said the complaint.

The SCADA system monitors and manages Pewaukee’s water and sewer utilities and is designed to provide up-to-date information and alerts to city public works staff regarding the operations and conditions of the town’s water and sewer systems, the complaint said. The SCADA system relies on communications hardware, software and infrastructure developed and managed by third-party providers, it said.

The SCADA system initiates notification calls to city public works staff when there’s an emergency in the operations of the water and sewer utilities, so staffers can address problems “prior to system failures," mitigate damage to the utility infrastructure and prevent damage to city residents, businesses and property owners, the complaint said.

Pewaukee bought Connect II routers from Simplify for its SCADA system in October 2022 and installed them the next month, the complaint said. The routers are certified for use on FirstNet, a Commerce Department public-private network for first responders operated by AT&T FirstNet devices and modules go through “extensive review” to meet AT&T’s “highest standards for reliability, security and performance,” said the complaint, quoting Matt Walsh, assistant vice president of AT&T’s FirstNet program.

Simplifi and AT&T were aware that the Connect II routers were used to support municipal water and utility SCADA systems, including Pewaukee’s, and they advertised the router as suitable for use on such systems, the complaint said.

But the city “had problems” with the Simplifi routers following their installation, the complaint said. Though they were tested and working property as of Nov. 16, 2022, the routers “failed a test” performed by the city’s SCADA system engineer on Jan. 9, 2023, because “the SCADA system was not able to interact with the routers,” it said. The city notified Simplifi and AT&T of the failure, and Simplifi support staff made an adjustment to the routers Jan. 10, the complaint said. The SCADA system, with the Simplifi Connect II routers, tested successfully Jan. 11, it said.

On Jan. 19, the SCADA system attempted to call Pewaukee’s public works staffers to alert them to problems with the water and sewer utilities, but the Simplifi routers and AT&T FirstNet network “failed and did not initiate an alert notification call” from the SCADA system to public works staff, the complaint said. The city experienced additional issues with the routers on Jan. 23, 25 and 27, it said.

Simplifi responded to the city’s Jan. 23 communication, saying the issue “was a known problem and that Simplifi was working on a solution,” the complaint said. The router company didn’t respond to communications about Jan. 25 and Jan. 27 problems, it said. AT&T didn’t respond to any of Pewaukee’s communications on those dates, it said.

On Jan. 30, Pewaukee’s Gun Club Lift station experienced “a total failure” of its three pumps, resulting in “sewer overflow,” said the complaint. The overflow lasted for 6.5 hours, leading 130,000 gallons of wastewater to overflow in Coppe’s laboratory in neighboring Waukesha, it said. Up to 1.5 inches of water flooded the floor of the lab, it said.

A review of the SCADA alarm notification software showed the system attempted to make the alert calls to the city public works staff about the pump failures at the Gun Club Lift station, but the phone line the SCADA system uses “was not providing a dial tone, preventing the alert call from going through,” it said.

Coppe’s operations suffered a six-week disruption and three weeks of “partial disruption,” resulting in $81,408 of lost income, it said. As a result of the disrupted operations, Coppe lost a client and had to cut its staff by 50%, the complaint said. Its net operating income fell by over $438,000 year on year from Jan. 1 to Nov. 16, it said.

In its negligence claim, Coppe seeks damages of no less than $400,000, plus attorneys’ fees and costs. AT&T and Simplifi didn’t comment Tuesday.