On August 1, 2016, a press release was published by the Washington Attorney General’s office announcing that Attorney General Bob Ferguson had filed a lawsuit against corporate giant Comcast. The lawsuit alleges that Comcast bilked its subscribers out of millions of dollars related to its Service Protection Plan. Comcast’s Latest Lawsuit by Washington A.G. is Not the First.
After conducting research, it was found that the company has had a large number of lawsuits filed against it. The majority of the cases found were class actions; lawsuits with one plaintiff that represents a group of people that have suffered the same injury by the same defendant. The plaintiff is the individual(s) who initiates the lawsuit and the defendant is the person or entity being sued.
According to CBS Philly, in September 2015, the settlement of a class action lawsuit that was filed against the corporation more than ten years ago was approved by a federal judge. The lawsuit alleged that Comcast and some other cable companies swapped customers in an effort to create a monopoly for their services so that prices could be raised and the choices consumers had to select from would be limited. The 50 million dollar settlement only provides 15 dollars to former customers and a 15 dollar credit to current subscribers or several other perks.
Also in 2015, Comcast entered into a settlement plan in a class action suit that alleged the corporation violated the Pennsylvania Minimum Water Act and the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law by refusing to pay overtime to customer account executives. It also alleged that Comcast was unjustly enriched as a result of those violations. According to Top Class Actions, the lawsuit was settled for 3.7 million dollars.
A 2011 class action lawsuit alleging that Comcast engaged in racial discrimination against approximately 385 current and former employees was settled in 2016. The class action members claimed that Comcast allowed a hostile work environment, and would not supply the same quality of tools that it supplied to its other facilities that did not have a majority of African American employees. According to The Law School at the University of Chicago, the case settled for 7.12 million dollars.
Settlements are generally reached to avoid the expense of a trial, and always contain clauses that the defendant is not admitting that it did anything wrong. In addition, settlements require minimal court oversight of the case.
The above is a sampling of the numerous lawsuits that have been filed against Comcast over the years. As you can see, the complaints range from refusing to pay fair wages to racial discrimination. Other lawsuits involve Comcast bilking its subscribers out of millions of dollars.
Comcast is evidently a corporation that places profits above its employees and its subscribers. Corporate profits by any means possible? You decide.
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