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 new lawsuit, filed in the central district of California late Sunday night, cites Heiser’s suit, as well as similar accusations posted on social media and consumer review websites by people identifying themselves as CenturyLink customers, and accuses CenturyLink of fraud, unfair competition, and unjust enrichment.

“Ms. Heiser’s allegations of what she observed, and what CenturyLink corporate culture encouraged, are consistent with the experiences of hundreds of thousands and potentially millions of consumers who have been defrauded by CenturyLink,” the complaint states. “It is estimated that the damages to consumers could range between $600 million and $12 billion, based on CenturyLink’s 5.9 million subscribers.”

[BLOOMBERG]