DISH Network Settles with the Department of Justice over Telemarketing Violations

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced a settlement in which DISH Network LLC (DISH) will pay $126 million in civil penalties to the United States in violation of the Federal Trade Commission's Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) and $84 million to four states for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, for a total settlement of $210 million.

This settlement represents the largest civil penalty ever paid to resolve telemarketing violations under the FTC Act, and exceeds the total penalties paid to the government by all prior violators of the Federal Trade Commission's Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR).

Background

This case was filed in 2009 and went to trial in 2016.  The United States — along with its co-plaintiffs, the States of California, Illinois, North Carolina, and Ohio — alleged that DISH made millions of unlawful telemarketing calls to consumers and was responsible for millions more made by retailers that marketed DISH products and services. In a 2017 opinion, the district court found DISH liable for more than 66 million telemarketing violations of the TSR and other federal and state statutes, imposing significant compliance measures on DISH and awarding the plaintiffs $280 million in civil penalties and damages, with $168 million going to the United States and $112 million to the state plaintiffs. In 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed those liability findings, but vacated and remanded the civil penalties and damages awards for recalculation.

In addition to the financial consequences of the violation, the judgment also provides:
    • DISH will not contest the court’s factual findings or liability determination
    • DISH will continue to follow the robust compliance measures imposed by the court in 2017
    • The injunction strictly prohibits any future telemarketing violations and significantly restricts DISH’s future telemarketing activities.  
    • DISH also has been ordered to prepare and abide by a telemarketing plan, submit telemarketing compliance materials to the department and the FTC twice annually until 2027, and provide compliance reports requested by the department or the FTC.

The press release is available here.

Photo by Anete Lusina from Pexels.