Global Tel*Link Reaches a $67 Million Settlement in a Lawsuit Over Jail Phone Call Funds
The country’s largest provider of telecommunications services to jails and prisons has agreed to end contentious litigation over non-refunded deposits made by its customers.
Global Tel*Link Corp. will establish a $67 million settlement fund to reimburse customers whose deposits were taken by the company from April 2011 to this past October after being deemed inactive, a court motion filed Monday said. The company is also agreeing to change its policies governing inactive accounts so its customers can reclaim unused funds.
The settlement must be approved by U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg in Atlanta, who has presided over the class-action litigation. A year ago, Totenberg issued a strongly worded order in which she sanctioned GTL for falsely stating that its customers had been fully advised of the terms of their contracts.
