A lawsuit blaming Qwest for the demise of competitive carrier Firstcom was properly dismissed, ruled the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis. Firstcom went out of business in 2001 and sold its assets to Al Jaffe & Associates. In 2004, shareholders of the original Firstcom blamed Qwest for the company's fate, saying the big carrier had given additional services and better customer support to two other CLECs, Eschelon Telecom and McLeod USA. The district court dismissed the case, saying the shareholders lacked legal standing because Al Jaffe owned the company. In 2006, Al Jaffe took up the lawsuit against Qwest, but the court again dismissed, saying it was too late to renew the claim. The 8th Circuit agreed: "Section 415(b) of the Act mandates a two-year limitations period for '[a]ll complaints against carriers for the recovery of damages.'" Firstcom shouldn't be exempted from the rule, because the company's "delay in bringing the action is attributable to its own actions," the court added.
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