California Attorney General issued the following announcement on Dec. 4.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced a $210 million multistate settlement against Dish Network (Dish), concluding an 11-year legal dispute over the company’s illegal telemarketing campaigns. In 2017, a district court found Dish violated telemarketing laws through millions of illegal telemarketing calls to sell and promote its satellite TV services and programming packages, including unwanted robocalls to thousands of people registered on the Do Not Call registry, many of them Californians. Under the terms of settlement, California will receive $39.9 million.
“Unwanted telemarketing calls are a nuisance and can be an illegal invasion of privacy,” said Attorney General Becerra. “Californians have the power to join the Do Not Call list to avoid harassing calls. Unfortunately, Dish Network flouted the rules and now they will pay.”
The settlement resolves a 2009 lawsuit against Dish by California, North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, and the federal government for illegal telemarketing. In 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois awarded the plaintiffs $280 million, with $53.3 million in civil penalties and statutory damages going to California. The judgment included an injunction designed to prevent similar misconduct in the future, including requirements that Dish demonstrate its compliance with various telemarketing rules.
Dish appealed the judgment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which upheld the lower court’s judgment and injunction. However, the appellate court vacated the lower court’s damages and penalties award, stating it should be recalculated. The parties agreed to resolve the remaining monetary portion of the case with settlement.
Original source can be found here.