Phone Recovery Services, LLC v. Verizon of New England, Inc.

The plaintiff, Phone Recovery Services, LLC (PRS), a New Jersey limited liability corporation, commenced this qui tam action on behalf of the Commonwealth against the defendants, Verizon of New England, Inc., and several other communication service providers, pursuant to the Massachusetts False Claims Act (act), G. L. c. 12, §§ 5A - 5O. 3 PRS claimed that the defendants failed to collect from their customers, and remit to the Commonwealth, a surcharge for 911 emergency telephone service (911 service surcharge), as required by G. L. c. 6A, § 18H. In so doing, PRS alleged that the defendants…