CenturyLink Moves for Partial Summary Judgment Against Peerless

The disputes between CenturyLink Communications as the “successor” plaintiff to Qwest, Level 3, WilTel and Global Crossing and defendant Peerless Network “have been long-standing and continue to evolve,” said Centurylink in a motion for partial summary judgment Friday (docket 1:18-cv-03114) in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago. The case dates to a May 2018 complaint in which Peerless and its affiliates were accused of “systematic overcharging” for contracted and tariffed services. CenturyLink and the other named plaintiffs “have relationships with thousands of telecommunications carriers, and Peerless generates more disputes than any other carrier by an order of magnitude,” said the motion. “Even as this action has been ongoing, Plaintiffs were forced to file another lawsuit in Colorado against Peerless on entirely different claims,” it said. The motion seeks reimbursement of the funds already paid to Peerless, plus credits for the amounts previously withheld from Peerless. On the tariff-based claims at issue in the complaint, CenturyLink also seeks a declaratory ruling that Peerless can no longer assess those charges.