Justice Department, with FTC, Wins Largest-Ever Telemarketing Penalty Against Dish Network

[nitpicker]

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-ftc-wins-largest-ever-telemarketing-penalty-against-dish-network

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Justice Department, with FTC, Wins Largest-Ever Telemarketing Penalty Against Dish Network

As the result of long-running litigation to redress invasion of consumer privacy, most notably through violation of the National Do Not Call Registry brought by the U.S. Department of Justice as well as the States of California, Illinois, North Carolina, and Ohio, a federal court in Illinois has ordered penalties totaling $280 million and strong injunctive relief against Englewood, Colorado-based satellite television provider Dish Network.

A Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation determined that Dish Network violated the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule, which includes provisions prohibiting telemarketing calls to phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, telemarketing calls to persons who have asked a seller not to call them, and provisions prohibiting robocalls. The FTC referred the case to the Department of Justice, which filed suit in 2009.

The case went to trial in January 2016, before U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough of the Central District of Illinois. The bench trial lasted approximately five weeks. In her ruling issued yesterday, Judge Myerscough found that Dish Network violated the do not call laws and invaded the privacy rights of American consumers, and that it knew or should have known that its actions were illegal.

Judge Myerscough also found that Dish Network was liable for the telemarketing violations of its so-called “retailers”—call centers that sold Dish Network programming by any means necessary. “Dish’s reckless decision to use anyone with a call center without any vetting or meaningful supervision demonstrates a disregard for the consuming public,” the judge wrote in her 475-page opinion. She went on to note the total penalty amount was appropriate given that “Dish caused millions and millions of violations of the Do Not Call Laws, and Dish has minimized the significance of its own errors in direct telemarketing and steadfastly denied any responsibility for the actions of its [retailers]. The injury to consumers, the disregard for the law, and the steadfast refusal to accept responsibility require a significant and substantial monetary award.”
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