CALIFORNIA—The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision to hold Dish Network accountable for engaging in an illegal nationwide telemarketing campaign on Thursday, March 26. Dish Network made tens of millions of illegal robocalls, and millions of others calls to California customers on designated ‘Do Not Call’ registries directly and through authorized marketing businesses telephone numbers.

The Seventh Circuit rejected the companies arguments that it should not be liable for the illegal telemarketing calls of its affiliated retailers. The court also rejected claims from Dish that the penalties of their conduct were being executed in an unconstitutionally excessive manner. The Seventh Circuit presented the calculation of damages and penalties to the district court, which deemed Dish Network intentionally liable for violations made to state statutes such as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, §227(b)(1)(B), (c), and other state laws that prohibit many prerecorded calls to individuals on designated do-not-call registry.

“Dish Network chose to ignore the rules, repeatedly violating state and federal telemarketing laws over many years. Today’s decision affirms our judgment against Dish Network, holding it accountable for illegally calling Californians and invading residents’ privacy with irresponsible robocalls,” said California Attorney General Becerra.