Caplan Cobb Secures $67 Million Settlement in Nationwide Consumer Class Action Against Prison Telephone Company Global*Tel Link

ATLANTA, Dec. 6, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Caplan Cobb LLP, Radford & Keebaugh, LLC, Andrew R. Lynch, P.C., and Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian, & Ho announced today that they have entered into a settlement agreement with Global Tel*Link (GTL) to resolve a long-standing class action. The lawsuit alleged that GTL improperly took prepaid deposits from GTL customers after a period of account inactivity. The settlement, which was filed today with the Atlanta federal court and remains subject to court approval, establishes a $67 million settlement fund and requires GTL to substantially reform its inactivity policy. Eligible account holders affected by the inactivity policy from April 3, 2011 to October 6, 2021 may obtain a full refund from the settlement fund.

"We are proud to have achieved a settlement that will provide full refunds to class members and establish important protections for GTL's future customers," said Caplan Cobb's Michael Caplan and T. Brandon Waddell.

GTL is the largest provider of telecommunications services to prisons and jails in the United States. Eligible account holders established and funded prepaid accounts nationwide via GTL's automated telephone system to receive calls from friends or family members in jails or prisons serviced by GTL. The complaint alleged that, since 2011, GTL had a policy of taking all funds that remain in a prepaid account if the account is inactive for a period of 90 to 180 days.

The case began in April of 2015, when class counsel filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The suit alleged that GTL's inactivity policy breached GTL's contracts with its customers. In November of 2020, following over five years of litigation, the Court certified the case as a class action. Today, the parties filed a motion seeking court approval of the settlement. By settling, GTL does not admit that it did anything wrong.

"This settlement is comprehensive because it achieves full refunds for account holders and ensures that, going forward, GTL will properly disclose and obtain the consent of account holders to a lengthened 180-day inactivity policy," said James Radford, of Radford & Keebaugh, LLP.    

Class members who currently have an active account with GTL will automatically have their account credited with any money taken under the inactivity policy, without the need to file a claim. Class members whose accounts with GTL are inactive may file a claim to receive a full cash refund. In addition, if an inactive account holder does not file a claim but re-establishes a prepaid account with GTL within two years of the settlement, that account holder will automatically be credited the amount of money taken due to inactivity.

The settlement also requires GTL to substantially reform its inactivity policy in the following ways:

• The period of inactivity required before GTL applies the inactivity policy to an account will be doubled, from 90 days to 180 days;
• GTL must fully disclose the inactivity policy to the account holder and obtain the consent of the account holder;
• GTL must display the terms of the inactivity policy on the homepage of its website and marketing materials; and
• GTL must provide to the account holder at least 30 days' advance notice before taking money from the account because of inactivity.

The case is Githieya, et al. v. Global Tel*Link Corp., Civil Action No. 1:15-CV-00986-AT, pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

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About Caplan Cobb LLP
Caplan Cobb LLP is a business litigation and class action firm in Atlanta, Georgia. Caplan Cobb has recovered over $500 million in class actions, business tort cases, and whistleblower actions. Caplan Cobb also serves as defense counsel in bet-the-company business-litigation matters. Caplan Cobb's attorneys have been recognized as Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, and the firm itself has been named to U.S. News & World Report's list of the "Best Law Firms" in America, as well as a Best Place to Work by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. For more information, visit https://caplancobb.com.

About Radford and Keebaugh, LLC
Radford & Keebaugh, LLC is a Georgia-based law firm focused on civil rights and employment litigation specializing in areas such as employment discrimination, wage and hour violations, constitutional claims including false arrest and malicious prosecution, sexual harassment, Americans with Disabilities Act, and whistleblower retaliation. For more information, visit: https://decaturlegal.com.

About Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho
Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho is one of the oldest and most successful plaintiffs' public interest class action law firms in the country. GBDH represents individuals against large companies and other entities in complex class and collective action lawsuits. The firm has three primary practice areas: employment discrimination, wage and hour violations, and disability access, and also brings other public interest cases, including voting rights, environmental protection, and consumer cases. The firm has a national practice, litigating cases in federal and state courts throughout the country. For more information, visit https://gbdhlegal.com/.

About Andrew R Lynch, P.C.
Andrew Lynch's legal practice is focused on putting clients first. Andrew focuses his legal practice on representing Clients hurt in motor vehicle wrecks, tractor-trailer accidents, DUI wrecks, premises liability cases (where someone is hurt at a business or apartment complex), and wrongful death cases. Andrew has been named a Super Lawyers 'Rising star.' For more information, visit https://attorneyandrew.com.

Please do not contact any account holder directly. For more information, please contact:

Michael A. Caplan
Caplan Cobb LLP
(404) 596-5600
[email protected]

James Radford, Attorney at Law
Radford & Keebaugh, LLC
(678) 271-0302
[email protected]

Media Contact

Michael Caplan, Caplan Cobb, (404) 596-5600, [email protected]

SOURCE Caplan Cobb