14. Business and Professions Code

In its comments on the Proposed Decision on Appeal of Commissioner Neeper, Greenlining contends that the decision should address Business and Professions Code §§ 17200 and 17500.

Section 17200 of the Business and Professions Code is part of the statutory scheme prohibiting "unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent" business activities. The statute "borrows" violations of other laws and treats them as unlawful practices independently actionable under this section. Peters v. Saunders, 58 Cal. Rptr. 2d 690, 702 (1996). The statute also makes clear that "unfair" practices are actionable "even if not proscribed by some other law." Cal-Tech Communications v. LA Cellular, 20 Cal.4^th 163, 180 (1999). Business and Professions Code § 17203 authorizes a court of competent jurisdiction to enjoin any further violations of the statute. In addition, the Attorney General, district attorneys, and certain city and county attorneys may bring actions for injunctive relief and civil penalties. (Business and Professions Code, §§ 17204, 17206.)

Remedies for violations of Business and Professions Code § 17200 are in addition to any other remedies. Business and Professions Code § 17205 provides that: "[u]nless otherwise provided, the remedies or penalties provided by this chapter are cumulative to each other and to the remedies or penalties available under all other laws of this state."

Business and Professions Code § 17500 prohibits "deceptive, false, and misleading" advertising. Greenlining argues that it has presented substantial evidence of actual customer confusion sufficient to satisfy the requirements of these two sections of the Business and Professions Code.

The Commission's regulatory authority stems from the Public Utilities Code, and grants this Commission broad regulatory power over Pacific Bell. Pursuant to this authority, the Commission has established long-standing and detailed requirements for Pacific Bell, and other public utilities, with respect to representations made to customers about tariffed services. As the remedies ordered in this decision demonstrate, the Public Utilities Code provides various remedies to rectify nonconformance with its requirements. This decision represents our disposition of the Public Utilities Code issues brought before us.

Separately from the Public Utilities Code, the Business and Professions Code is a complex set of statutes that addresses broad ranges of commercial activities, and has its own set of remedies. Having exercised our regulatory jurisdiction under the most relevant Public Utilities Code, and Commission standards, we deem it unnecessary to review the alleged violations under the Business and Professions Code. The remedies and fines ordered in this decision for the type and gravity of violations that Pacific has committed obviate the need for further actions under the B&P Code.