Cox Communications said it has reached a resolution with the California Attorney General’s office over an alleged illegal dumping complaint focused on the company’s San Diego-area operations.
“This complaint originated five years ago. While we dispute the allegations, we have fully cooperated with the California AG, and have reached a resolution with their office,” Cox said in a statement emailed to Fierce this morning.
The California State Attorney General’s Office hasn’t yet released a statement confirming that the matter is resolved.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed suit against Cox last week. In the 32-page complaint, Becerra’s office alleges that the privately held, Atlanta-based cable company failed improperly disposed of customer records, dumping this information without having shredded, erased or otherwise making the paperwork unreadable.
For its part, Cox insisted there was no illegal disclosure of private customer information involved in this complaint. “There was nothing about a data breach in the complaint, nor did one occur,” the operator said.
The complaint also alleges that Cox improperly disposed of “electronic equipment (such as remote controls, splitters, splitter filters, transformers, power adapters, power supplies, customer premises equipment, amplifiers, taps, traps, network interface cards, multiswitches, field testing equipment, and devices containing printed circuit boards), batteries (such as lead-acid, lithium-ion, nickel-metal hydride, nickel-cadmium and alkaline batteries), scrap metal and aerosol cans, as well as certain gels, liquids and other items used or carried by technicians.
Cox said it has cooperated fully with the state AG and has made changes to make sure all used equipment is now disposed of in accordance with California state law.
“Cox has a longstanding commitment to the communities we serve, and driving positive environmental change—inside our company and within those communities—is one of the most important things we do,” Cox’s statement added.