02:00 PM EDT, 06/17/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with AT&T's ( T ) response in the sixth paragraph.)

AT&T ( T ) subsidiary Wisconsin Bell's request to the US Supreme Court to review the unit's Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, fraud claims, has been granted, according to a court document on Monday.

Wisconsin Bell had petitioned for a review of its challenge to revive a False Claims Act suit alleging that the company overcharged schools and libraries for telecommunications and information under the FCC's E-rate program.

The company filed notice with the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit that it is challenging that court's decision. Last year, the court reinstated Todd Heath's claims that Wisconsin Bell defrauded the FCC's E-rate program, Bloomberg News said.

The AT&T ( T ) unit said in its petition that "Heath's response can't obscure the essential point that the Fifth and Seventh Circuits are openly divided over whether E-rate reimbursement requests are actionable claims under the False Claims Act. In holding that the FCA's treble damages and civil penalties apply to submissions made to a private corporation paying out private funds, the Seventh Circuit explicitly acknowledged that it was taking a 'contrary view' from the Fifth Circuit about the identical program."

"This Court's review is needed to provide clarity in this critical area of the law, and to ensure that the FCA is not extended to claims that don't involve any loss of governmental money," the petition added.

"We are pleased the court has agreed to hear this important issue and look forward to presenting our arguments," AT&T ( T ) told MT Newswires.

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