Amended Class-Action Complaint Must Be Rejected, Dish Says

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was unanimous that Dish Network's subscription agreement clearly makes it not liable for any interruption in service, so a motion by a group of subscribers seeking permission to file a second amended class-action complaint must be denied. That was the argument Dish made in suggestions in opposition (in Pacer) filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Jefferson City, Missouri. It said claims about lack of credit provided for a late 2014/early 2015 blackout of Turner and Fox channels during stalled carriage negotiations aren't valid causes of action since charges of bad faith, breach of contract and willful and wanton conduct legally are circumstances that aren't present here. The company said plaintiffs' proposed new allegations of unconscionability and unjust enrichment also aren't legally applicable. In last month's petition (in Pacer) to file the amended complaint, plaintiffs said the 8th Circuit's October interlocutory appeal decision said Dish's not providing a credit isn't a breach of good faith and the plaintiffs didn't allege Dish eliminated the programming in bad faith. They wanted to amend their complaint to include allegations the satellite-TV provider interrupted the Turner and Fox channel access in bad faith and/or wantonly breached its form agreement. Counsel for plaintiffs didn't comment Friday.