A judge held off last week on approving a $44 million overbilling settlement for Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers, after some plaintiffs involved in the class-action case disagreed with the terms, attorneys said. Plaintiffs in three of four lawsuits involved in the proposed settlement complained in a court filing that the deal had “fundamental flaws,” one of which is that the LADWP would be the only party deciding which customers were overbilled and how much would be credited. Instead of rejecting or approving the settlement, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle instructed the plaintiffs to work out a revised deal. Timothy Blood, an attorney for one of the plaintiffs opposing the settlement terms, viewed the judge’s decision as favorable to his side.
The judge “instructed all the parties to meet and try to work out the deficiencies that we pointed out in the settlement,” Blood said.
He said “it was unusual” that plaintiffs on three of the four lawsuits included in the proposed settlement were not consulted before it was announced in August. Blood said the ultimate goal is to get a better settlement for DWP ratepayers.
“Now the good news is everyone is included and we have a good opportunity to improve the settlement,” he said.
The lawsuits stemmed from the LADWP’s problem-filled, $181 million overhaul of its 40-year-old customer billing system that was marred by numerous inaccurate or missing bills. The LADWP’s customer service lines were swamped with calls complaining of the errors, leading to hold times that often lasted up to an hour. Jack Landskroner, the attorney who shaped the $44 million deal with the utility, made light of the judge’s decision, saying the changes the judge asked to be made were minor.
“The court has asked us to edit the settlement for clarification on a few items,” Landskroner said. “None of the items are substantive changes or alter the substance of the settlement.”
Landskroner added that his side was “happy” to make the changes and “continue to move forward toward getting customers 100 percent recovery as quickly as possible and getting the department reforms in place.”
The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
