DISH Network Loses Another $61M in Robocall Class Action
DISH Network may soon be paying out a rather large judgment, again, stemming from unwanted robocalls placed nearly a decade ago. Once one consumer filed a lawsuit in 2014 after receiving the robocalls despite being on the Do Not Call Registry, the matter quickly took off as a consumer class action.
Now after several years of litigation and a jury trial, a final judgment has been issued to the tune of $61 million. Individual class members may qualify for significant cash payments, as damages can be assessed at $1,200 per call. However, as expected, DISH Network has filed an appeal, which will delay, or possible upend, satisfaction of the judgment. Notably though, potential class members need to file a claim by next month. Fortunately, there is a website that allows individuals to enter their phone number(s) to see if they qualify.
DISH Dashed
Although the jury trial concluded in January 2017, it wasn't until last month that the multimillion-dollar final judgment was rendered. For a period of over a year, from May 2010 to August 2011, a DISH Network authorized retailer-placed robocalls to individuals on the national Do Not Call Registry. There were a total of 51,119 calls placed to 18,066 different numbers.
Notably, this isn't the only robocalling case to plague DISH. Last year, another district court ordered the company pay nearly $300 million to the government and four states as a result of their use of robocalls.
Robocall Liability
For business that engage in telemarketing or text-message-marketing, legal compliance is not only confusing, it's crucial. As many major companies, and even small to mid-size businesses have learned, failing to abide by the Do Not Call Registry and other legal requirements can be rather costly.
Additionally, there's very little possibility of spinning this sort of a lawsuit into positive press for the company. Individuals generally do not like telemarketing calls. When businesses break the rules for telemarketing, the general public is not typically going to be sympathetic.
Related Resources:
- How to Handle Lawsuits Filed by Your Company's Consumer Base (FindLaw's In House)
- TCPA Lawsuits Are Exploding - How To Stay Out of the Line of Fire (FindLaw's In House)
- 3 Tips for GCs Handling Corporate Reputational Risks (FindLaw's In House)