A class action lawsuit has been filed against the fiber optic company alleging false advertising. The lawsuit was filed in Wood County Circuit Court on behalf of 20,000 customers that lost telephone service over a two day period starting on July 10, 2007. The lawsuit claims FiberNet knew its telecommunications services were not reliable, fully redundant and operable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but nevertheless continued to market such services as being reliable, fully redundant, and operable, when in fact they were not.
A computer glitch on Tuesday morning at FiberNet's downtown office in Charleston knocked out all or some service to 11,000 of FiberNet's 24,000 customers in West Virginia. The company restored service within 24 hours to critical customers such as hospitals, 911 call centers, and fire and police departments.
The lawsuit alleges breach of contract, fraud, and negligence, and seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages. The case hopes to recover compensation for financial injury and/or damages accrued to businesses and residents due to the phone outage.
OCT-29-07: The Fibernet case was removed to Federal court by the defendants. Motions to remand the case back to state court are currently pending.
