Score one for people on the Do Not Call list. It’s been eight years of tenacious litigation by the Department of Justice, the FTC, and the Attorneys General of California, Illinois, North Carolina, and Ohio against satellite TV provider Dish Network. But, earlier this week, the Court imposed a record-setting $280 million civil penalty against Dish for calls to people on the Do Not Call list, abandoned calls, calls to people who had told Dish they did not want to receive calls, and for assisting and facilitating telemarketers who engaged in practices in violation of the Telemarketing Sales Rule. 66 million calls, in fact, that broke the law.
Dish vigorously defended its conduct in court, but the Court wasn’t having it. In the decision, the Court said, “Dish’s denial of responsibility and lack of regard for consumers are deeply disturbing and support the inference that it is reasonably likely that Dish will allow future illegal calls absent government pressure.” And, in explaining the $280 million civil penalty, the Court ruled that “the injury to consumers, the disregard for the law, and the steadfast refusal to accept responsibility require a significant and substantial monetary award.”
In more good news, besides the penalty, the Court is making Dish take some actions, as the Court said, to “keep Dish’s marketing personnel from reverting to their practice of trying to get around the rules.” They have to hire a telemarketing compliance expert to make sure Dish and its retailers follow the law (and the Court’s order). The federal and state plaintiffs can ask the Court for unannounced inspections of Dish’s (and its retailers’) facilities and records. And, from now on, Dish has to comply with the law – that is, following the rules about not calling people on the Do Not Call list.
In case you were wondering about the money: the $280 million is a penalty, which will be paid to DOJ and to the states. The money DOJ gets will make its way to the U.S. Treasury.
