Cnty. of Butler v. Centurylink Commc'ns, LLC

207 A.3d 838
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 26, 2019
Docket66 WAP 2017
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 207 A.3d 838 (Cnty. of Butler v. Centurylink Commc'ns, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cnty. of Butler v. Centurylink Commc'ns, LLC, 207 A.3d 838 (Pa. 2019).

Opinions

CHIEF JUSTICE SAYLOR

*840This issue accepted for review concerns whether counties may advance common law claims seeking legal redress against telecommunications companies for alleged deficiencies in their administration of fees associated with 911 emergency communication services.

I. Background

In 1990, the Pennsylvania General Assembly created a statutory scheme regulating 911 emergency communication services throughout the Commonwealth.1 Per the enactment, counties bore the responsibility to operate 911 systems within their jurisdictions. See 35 Pa.C.S. § 5304(a)(1) (requiring each county to develop a plan for "the implementation, operation and maintenance of a 911 system") (superseded); see also id. § 5301, Historical and Statutory Notes (quoting Act of July 9, 1990, P.L, 340, No. 78, Preamble).2 In this vein, each county was obliged to make arrangements with telephone companies providing local exchange telephone service within its boundaries to provide 911 service. See 35 Pa.C.S. § 5304(a)(2) (superseded). The Act also extended to Interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol ("VoIP") services. See id. § 5311.14 (repealed).

The enactment also contemplated the creation of a stream of funding to counties for 911 systems via the imposition of a monthly assessment or charge upon telephone-service customers in an amount denominated as the "contribution rate," see, e.g. , id. § 5305(g.1)(1) (superseded), as well *841as a specified fee attached to VoIP service, see id. § 5311.14 (repealed). Service providers were required to collect these fees from customers and remit the proceeds to county treasurers. See id. ; see also id. § 5307(a)(1) (superseded).3 Providers, however, were expressly relieved of any obligation to take legal action to collect charges, as follows:

The local exchange telephone company shall not be required to take any legal action to enforce the collection of any charge imposed under this chapter. Action may be brought by or on behalf of the public agency imposing the charge.

Id. § 5307(e)(1) (superseded).

From the state level, the scheme was overseen by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency ("PEMA"), which was specifically empowered to "take the actions necessary to implement, administer and enforce" the 911 Act. Id. § 5303(a)(12) (specifying the "[p]owers and duties" of the agency) (superseded). The enactment otherwise reaffirmed that, in addition to any powers otherwise expressly enumerated in the 911 Act, PEMA:

has the power and duty to enforce and execute, by its regulations or otherwise, this chapter. The agency may institute injunction, mandamus or other appropriate legal proceedings to enforce [the 911 Act and associated regulations].

Id. § 5311.13 (captioned "Enforcement") (repealed).

In April 2016, Appellee, the County of Butler, filed a complaint against Appellant, CenturyLink Communications, LLC, and other telecommunications companies (collectively, "Providers"), contending that they failed to fulfill their responsibilities under the 911 Act prior to August 1, 2015. Specifically, the County alleged that Providers did not adequately charge customers or collect, remit, or report certain fees due to the County. In particular, the County complained that Providers' facilities accommodate multiple lines on a single physical exchange line and/or offer packetized services but that Providers failed to levy a fee for the use of each line, especially for business customers employing multiple lines. The complaint advanced common law causes of action sounding in breach of fiduciary duties, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation and sought injunctive relief, monetary damages, and an accounting. Notably, the County did not advance a pure statutory enforcement claim premised exclusively on authority conferred by the 911 Act.

Providers filed joint preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer. They contended, inter alia , that the 911 Act invests exclusive enforcement authority in PEMA, and accordingly, that the County was barred from bringing the action. From the outset, Providers asserted that a longstanding and unbroken series of decisions of this Court maintain that, where the Legislature confers express enforcement rights in a statute, those rights must be deemed exclusive, and no other enforcement rights may be read into the statute or otherwise advanced via the assertion of common law claims. See, e.g. , Defendants'

*842Joint Preliminary Objections in County of Butler v. CenturyLink Commc'ns, LLC , AD No. 15-11007 (C.P. Butler), at ¶ 3 (citing White v. Conestoga Title Ins. Co. , 617 Pa. 498, 522, 53 A.3d 720, 735 (2012) ).

The County responded with the argument that the 911 Act does not either establish an exclusive enforcement power in PEMA or otherwise preclude the County from pursuing common law causes of action. They also posited that the segment of Section 5307(e)(1) providing that "[a]ction may be brought by or on behalf of the public agency imposing the charge" expressly empowered counties to bring actions to enforce the collection of fees against service providers. 35 Pa.C.S. § 5307(e)(1) (superseded).

The common pleas court credited Providers' position. See County of Butler v. CenturyLink Commc'ns, LLC , AD No. 15-11007, slip op. at 10 (C.P. Butler Aug. 11, 2016) (Horan, J.) (concluding that "PEMA has the exclusive statutory power and duty to regulate and enforce the 911 Act against service providers"). With respect to Section 5307(e)(1), the court explained that the provision confers a right upon counties to collect a "charge" from non-paying customers, but not from service providers. See id. at 6-7. In this regard, the court stressed that no "charges" are imposed on service providers under the 911 Act. See id. at 7.

The common pleas court also commented on the complexity of telecommunications management in relation to telephone subscribers and fees per the Act and the concomitant desirability of consistency and predictability across county lines. See id. at 7-8. As such, in the court's view, "a single source of guidance is appropriate." Id. at 8. It is for this reason, the court believed, that the Legislature conferred standing and exclusive authority upon PEMA to enforce the provisions of the Act relative to service providers. See id.

In terms of the County's attempt to advance common law claims, the county court found those claims to be barred per Section 1504 of the Statutory Construction Act, which provides:

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Bluebook (online)
207 A.3d 838, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cnty-of-butler-v-centurylink-commcns-llc-pa-2019.