A federal judge in Raleigh, North Carolina, has tripled the amount of money Dish Network must pay 50,000 state residents on the federal Do Not Call registry after the satellite TV company illegally robocalled them.
The ruling ups individual payouts by Dish to $1,200 per person, resulting in a total payout of as much as $60 million.
In January, a jury decided to give $400 to each individual on the registry impacted by the Dish telemarketing campaign. According to Associated Press, however, Judge Catherine C. Eagles ruled earlier this week that the award should be increased to $1,200 per person.
In her decision, Eagles said Dish and its agent, Satellite Systems Network, willfully violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The judge said the decision is “appropriate to deter Dish and to give suitable weight to the seriousness and scope of the violations Dish committed.”
Dish representatives have yet to respond to FierceCable’s inquiry for comment.
Dish said in January it was considering an appeal to the class-action suit ruling.
In January 2015, Dish was accused by the Federal Trade Commission of 57 million violations of federal telemarketing rules.
In fact, Dish is accused by the FTC and the states of Illinois, California, North Carolina and Ohio of violating two U.S. laws, the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
Dish faces almost $900 million in federal fines alone for its actions, which took place from 2006-2008. In January, Dish lawyers called it “shocking” that it faces so much liability when vendor Satellite Systems, which committed the violations, only paid out $75,000, according to Bloomberg.