8th Circuit Issues Mixed Ruling on Qwest Appeal in Free Conferencing Dispute
A federal appellate court sided with Free Conferencing on two claims and Qwest on one in a case stemming from traffic-stimulation allegations. A panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on a Qwest appeal of a ruling…
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of U.S. District Court in Sioux Falls, South Dakota that found the CenturyLink long-distance unit didn't prove its claims against Free Conferencing. "We affirm the district court on the claims for intentional interference with a business relationship and unfair competition. We reverse and remand on the claim for unjust enrichment," said the controlling opinion of Judge Myron Bright released Thursday in Qwest v. Free Conferencing, No. 15-2406. Free Conferencing entered into a contract over a decade ago to have Sancom, an LEC, host FC's free conference call bridges and split revenue generated by long-distance traffic and associated terminating access charges collected by Sancom from interexchange carriers (IXCs), wrote Bright, who explained background in the case. FC knew the contract would take advantage of the tariff, but the district court said FC's president was credible in arguing he didn't know the arrangement was unlawful. The arrangement caused a spike in traffic and Qwest eventually stopped paying Sancom access charges, leading Sancom to sue Qwest in 2007, followed by Qwest suits against both Sancom and Free Conferencing. Under prodding from Qwest, the FCC issued a series of decisions and findings on traffic-stimulation disputes, including one saying Sancom couldn't bill Qwest under its tariff for calls terminating at FC's bridge. Qwest and Sancom settled for an undisclosed amount, but Qwest and FC went to trial in 2014. The district court rejected all Qwest claims and the IXC appealed on three. While upholding that decision on two claims, the 8th Circuit panel sided with Qwest in ruling that the lower court failed to consider important factors undergirding its unjust enrichment claim. Bright's ruling vacated the lower court decision on that claim and remanded it for reconsideration. In conflicting dissents, Judge Bobby Shepherd said he would have denied Qwest's unjust enrichment claim, but Judge Diana Murphy said Qwest was "entitled to recover from Free Conferencing on its claims for tortious interference and unjust enrichment" after she concluded FC and Sancom deliberately avoided compliance with the law. CenturyLink emailed that it was pleased the court found in its favor on one count and said it's considering its legal options. Free Conferencing didn't comment.