CenturyLink Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Seeking Up to $12 Billion

An office building occupied by CenturyLink, Inc., in Herndon, Va.

Photographer: Tripplaar Kristoffer/SIPA/Sipa USA

CenturyLink Inc., sued last week by a former employee for allegedly running a sales incentive scheme and firing her for drawing attention to it, is now the subject of a class-action complaint seeking damages as high as $12 billion.

The complaint, which comes as the Monroe, La., telecommunications company is in the midst of a $34 billion merger with Level 3 Communications Inc., seeks to establish a class of consumers harmed by an alleged high-pressure sales culture. Last week’s self-proclaimed whistleblower, Heidi Heiser, says such a culture left customers paying millions of dollars for accounts they didn’t request.

The ...