The City of Los Angeles’ telephone tax used to be based on the Federal telephone excise tax. The federal tax, collection of which began to fund the Spanish-American War (Remember the Maine?), ended when almost every circuit Court of Appeal ruled the tax unconstitutional.
So a gentleman named Estuardo Ardon sued the City of Los Angeles claiming that its phone tax was just as unconstitutional; he asked that it be made a class action suit. The city objected, claiming that each resident must sue separately per the California constitution. Today, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the case can proceed as a class action.
The case now reverts back to the Superior Court, where presumably the amount of damages (that is, the amount that must be refunded to residents) must be calculated. Eventually, residents of Los Angeles will likely get some money back. This impacts other California cities, too, as several other cities have been sued for similar reasons in class actions.
Tags: LosAngeles