Customers sue Verizon over late-payment fee

Verizon Communications Inc. was sued Tuesday by customers in California who claim a $5 fee added to mobile phone bills that aren’t paid on time violates state law.

The suit, filed in state court in Oakland, seeks class-action status based on allegations that the fee illegally exceeds the cost Verizon incurs from late payments, said Peter Fredman, a lawyer who is representing the customers.

Verizon, based in New York, already faces lawsuits in the same court over accusations that it illegally enforces early contract-termination fees that are higher than the cost of its investment in lost customers. Those cases were filed last year under a California law that limits fees to the damages a company actually suffers.

Verizon spokeswoman Jan Morris declined to comment.