Dish Network Robocalls Allegedly in Violation of TCPA

A legal complaint has been registered in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division which alleges that Dish Network robocalls made to him are in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA).

Plaintiff Sylvester S., a citizen and resident of Tampa, Fla., purportedly has been a recipient of Dish Network robocalls over the last year.

Dish Network LLC is a company based out of the State of Colorado with its headquarters specifically located in Englewood. According to the factual section of the TCPA lawsuit, Sylvester specifically made a phone call in November 2017 to the headquarters and spoke with a customer service representative.

He says he requested that all Dish Network robocalls that had been being made to his cellular telephone cease and desist.

Despite his effort to clearly and unequivocally communicate his preferences to the defendant, Sylvester says the Dish Network robocalls to his mobile number continued unabated. Robocalls are telephone communications made by automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS). They are easily identified as such when answered by a recipient only to hear a gap of silence followed by recorded instructions to wait on the line for the next available representative.

Sylvester brings one count against the defendant for making Dish Network robocalls to his mobile phone and intentionally repeatedly violating the TCPA. The ATDS allegedly used to do this is referred to in the lawsuit narrative as a predictive dialer. A predictive dialer is a mechanism, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), that determines the most likely time that a consumer will pick up a telephone call and places a call then.

Whether or not a customer service representative is actually available to discuss whatever issue they wish to present to the consumer is irrelevant. If a CSR is not available, the recipient of the ATDS communication picks up the call to hear silence.

Stipulations of the TCPA

The TCPA strictly regulates solicitating telephone calls to consumers. The use of automated dialing equipment or calls using a pre-recorded voice to cellular telephones is forbidden, unless the recipient has consented to that kind of contact.

Additionally, the TCPA very specifically disallows robocalls to hospital emergency rooms, health care clinics, doctor’s offices, or elder care and assisted care facilities.

Other stipulations of the TCPA include the honoring of the National Do Not Call Registry. Each company must also take the initiative to start and maintain their own internal Do Not Call List. This is where Dish Network LLC could have kept record of Sylvester’s request for Dish Network robocalls to cease and desist.

Statutory damages for violations of these elements of TCPA can range from $500 to $1,500 per incident. A consumer can also seek an injunction for the company to stop its activities in addition to seeking damages.

The complainant in this lawsuit is seeking $500 for each call made negligently and treble damages of $1,500 per call for willful and knowing ATDS contact after he made his express wishes known to the company.

The Dish Network Lawsuit is Case No. 8:18-cv-01106-CEH-TGW in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division

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If you were contacted on your cell phone by a company via an unsolicited text message (text spam) or prerecorded voice message (robocall), you may be eligible for compensation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

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