Court Trebles Dish Damages Award in TCPA Class-Action Complaint

Dish Network knew telemarketer Satellite Systems Network committed Telephone Consumer Protection Act violations for years but didn't care if SSN complied, said U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles of Greensboro, North Carolina, in an order (in Pacer) Monday trebling previously awarded jury damages of $400 per call in the TCPA class-action complaint against Dish. Eagles said Dish arguments it told SSN to scrub its phone lists of Do Not Call Registry numbers "were empty words" since it did nothing when it knew SSN hadn't removed numbers. The court said treble damages -- $1,200 per call for more than 50,000 telemarketing calls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry -- were appropriate "because of the need to deter Dish from future violations." Dish in a statement said it "respectfully disagree[s]" with the opinion and is evaluating legal options. It said it has "long taken its compliance with telemarketing laws seriously, has and will continue to maintain rigorous telemarketing compliance policies and procedures, and has topped multiple independent customer service surveys along the way." Dish and the class-action plaintiffs have been at odds over disbursement of the award (see 1704270008), with a hearing scheduled for June 7 on post-trial procedures.