Norton Museum of Art’s phone provider countersues

The Norton Museum of Art’s telecommunications provider Verity Partners has countersued, seeking early termination fees and denying that it improperly withheld the PIN needed to port the museum’s numbers to a new provider.

The West Palm Beach museum in October accused Verity of violating a federal law that requires telecom providers to release customer account information needed to transfer phone service, effectively holding the museum’s phone system hostage.

The federal lawsuit seeks compensatory damages for losses from paying two telephone providers at once, attorneys’ fees and a preliminary injunction requiring Verity Partners to provide the museum with the PIN to its telephony account.

The museum said in court documents that it entered into its contract with Verity in August 2015, but in February 2025, it sent written requests for the PIN and password associated with its telephony account. The museum alleged in the initial complaint that Verity did not provide it with the PIN.

Paid subscribers can read the full documents.

Court Documents: Countersuit in Norton Museum v. Verity Partners

Records from U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Urgent MatterAdam Schrader

Before the lawsuit, in October, the Norton Museum sent Verity a written notice that it would end its telephone service. It again requested the PIN and password for its account to begin porting its numbers to another provider.

“Instead, Verity has threatened to cut off its service to the museum during the transition to another carrier, thereby leaving the museum vulnerable to business loss and security risks,” the museum said.

The museum said disclosure of the PIN is necessary to complete the transition to its new telephone carrier.

In late December, the Norton Museum expanded the lawsuit, adding new statutory and contract claims, as the company’s defense attorneys moved to withdraw from the case over “irreconcilable differences.”

The museum said in its amended complaint that it finally received the PIN on November 25, more than eight months after first requesting it and only after the lawsuit was filed.

The museum also added new allegations that Verity repeatedly failed to fix phone problems and sometimes stopped responding to service requests. The museum said these issues led it to seek a new telecommunications provider.

Verity has now hit back at the museum, denying that it violated federal telecommunications law and accusing the institution of breaching their long-running services agreement.

In its answer and counterclaim filed this week in federal court, Verity admitted that the parties entered into a Master Service Agreement in August 2015 and that the contract included addenda governing network, connectivity and cloud voice services.

But the company denied that it refused to provide the PIN or that its conduct violated federal number portability rules. And it denied the museum’s allegations that it failed to timely service the phone system, refused to respond to service requests or caused business disruption.

The company instead asserted that the museum “missed and was late in making payments” and failed to provide timely cooperation and complete information required for Verity to perform its services under the agreement. Verity raised those alleged failures as a defense to the museum’s breach-of-contract claim.

Verity also alleged that the museum’s October notice terminating its telephone services triggered a contractual obligation to pay remaining monthly recurring charges through the end of the service term.

According to the counterclaim, the museum failed to pay those termination fees. Verity is seeking damages, prejudgment and post-judgment interest and attorneys’ fees.

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