AT&T’s winning streak in federal court continues.
A federal judge in Houston has refused to grant class action certification to a lawsuit claiming that hundreds of property owners between Dallas and Houston were contaminated by 200 miles of coaxial cable buried 70 years ago by AT&T.
U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett ruled Tuesday that the lawsuit filed by prominent Houston trial attorney Tony Buzbee against the Dallas-based telecomm giant lacked “commonality” of issues and damages and does not qualify for class action status.
The lawsuit, Kenneth Cook, et al, v. AT&T Corp., claims that the coaxial cable that AT&T placed underground “is deteriorating and leaking lead and copper onto plaintiffs’ properties.” The suit says the cable is polluting the property. Buzbee sought to have the class action case to include all people and companies owning property between Houston and Dallas with the AT&T cable under its ground. He sought $35 million in damages.
In an 11-page decision, Judge Bennett found that the questions of law and fact – such as whether individual properties have actually been contaminated – were not common enough among the hundreds of potential members of the proposed class.
“Highly individualized issues of both causation and damages that predominate over common issues make class certification inappropriate,” Judge Bennett wrote. “Class action is not the proper vehicle to resolve this case.”
AT&T is represented in the case by Haynes and Boone partner Thad Behrens of Dallas. Mark Trachtenberg, a partner in the Houston office of Haynes and Boone, and associates Michelle Jacobs and Billy Marsh also worked on the matter for AT&T. David McAtee, AT&T’s general counsel, is a former partner at Haynes and Boone.
This is AT&T’s third big courtroom victory in the past four months. In August, a federal judge dismissed most of the Federal Trade Commission’s $4 billion false advertising case against AT&T. In June, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. rejected the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust case seeking to block AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner.