Already a defendant in consumer litigation seeking billions of dollars, the telecom firm gets some more bad news.
By Polly Mosendz and Scott Moritz
CenturyLink Inc. - trying to seal a $34 billion deal to buy Level 3 Communications Inc., facing a $12 billion consumer fraud case, and fighting a lawsuit by the Minnesota attorney general - got some more bad news last week in the form of a securities-fraud class action.
The telecom firm's troubles began this summer when an ex-employee sued for wrongful termination. Heidi Heiser, who worked as a customer service and sales agent, claimed she was fired after notifying Chief Executive Officer Glen Post of an alleged sales scheme that left customers on the hook for services they didn't want. Shares of CenturyLink fell almost 5 percent as news reports of the allegations spread (the company has denied any wrongdoing). First Heiser's accusations sparked the consumer fraud action.