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Dish Hit With Record $280 Million Fine for Illegal Robocalls

Dish Network Corp. must pay $252 million to the U.S. and four states for using robocalls to consumers on do-not-call lists, a federal judge in Illinois said.

U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough issued the order Monday, directing the company to pay $168 million to the federal government and $84 million to California, Illinois, North Carolina and Ohio.

The U.S. and the four states sued Dish in 2009, alleging the company violated two consumer telemarketing laws by making more than 55 million illegal calls.

The U.S. asked for $900 million in fines, while the states sought more than $110 million.

Myerscough also prohibited the company from violating do-not-call laws going forward and imposed a 20-year plan for supervision of its telemarketing.

The U.S. accused Dish of violating the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule by phoning people on do-not-call lists and using recorded messages. The government called Dish “a serial telemarketing violator’’ in court papers.

The federal consumer act allows damages of $500 a call or text, which can be tripled for violations made knowingly. The sales rule allows penalties of $11,000 for each violation before Feb. 9, 2009, and $16,000 per violation after that.

The company disagrees with the ruling and will appeal it, a spokesman said.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-05/dish-ordered-to-pay-252-mln-to-u-s-states-over-robocalls