A Hawaii Prisons Phone Service Will Reimburse Inmates Up to $67 Million
A company that provides pay-per-minute telephone service to Hawaii prisoners and their families has agreed to pay up to $67 million to settle a lawsuit alleging the company has been improperly draining money out of some of its customers’ accounts.
People who used the payment system in the state correctional facilities and believe they may have been overcharged have until Tuesday to file an online claim in the federal District Court case, filed in Georgia and called Benson Githieya v Global Tel Link Corp.
The lawsuit alleges that from April 3, 2011 to Oct. 6, 2021, Global Tel Link or GTL had an “Inactivity Policy” that allowed the company to keep any money deposited in its system as advance payment for phone calls if the money wasn’t used within 180 days or less, according to an announcement of the settlement.
