Comcast controversies

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• A state-court complaint filed on Wednesday accuses customer service support company Arise Virtual Solutions Inc. and Comcast Cable Communications Management LLC of improperly denying their customer service agents basic bargains of their employment such as minimum wage, overtime, and paid sick leave by misclassifying them as independent contractors.

• D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine filed the suit on behalf of aggrieved workers and seeks relief from violations of the District’s Minimum Wage Revision Act (MWRA) and the Sick and Safe Leave Act (SSLA).

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• The increasingly bitter retransmission dispute between Nexstar and Comcast over WPIX in New York City, has prompted Nexstar to file a lawsuit asking the court to find “Comcast liable for breach of contract” and award Nexstar damages.

• “Nexstar was forced to bring this action because Comcast has flouted the terms of the parties’ retransmission consent agreement and refused to pay millions of dollars in fees owed to Nexstar,” the lawsuit stated.

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• We recognize that our data plan was new for our customers in the Northeast, and while only a very small percentage of customers need additional data, we are providing them with more time to become familiar with the new plan

• Comcast Corp., which drew heavy criticism for price increases for heavy internet use, has announced it’s delaying the move until next year.

Company response

• Refund or compensation — Comcast

  Comcast will provide $1.14 million in refunds, along with an undisclosed amount of debt relief.

• Denial — Comcast

  Comcast says it disagrees with the lawsuit's allegations but settled because it wants to partner with Ellison and others who quote "share our commitment to improving the experience of our customers. "

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• Comcast will provide $1.14 million in refunds, along with an undisclosed amount of debt relief.

• Minnesota Attorney Keith Ellison has settled a lawsuit against Comcast, obtaining refunds and fee reversals for more than 30,000 customers of the telecom company. Ellison says Comcast hid true prices from customers and misled them in other ways.

• The settlement also requires Comcast ads reveal all charges for a service.

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• Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager on Thursday slapped a 14.3 million euro ($15.8 million) penalty on NBCUniversal and other companies owned by parent Comcast Corp. for “anti-competitive licensing and distribution practices” that are illegal under the bloc’s rules.

• Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said that the fine has been imposed for "anti-competitive licensing and distribution practices" that are illegal under the bloc's rules.

• However, the antitrust regulators reduced NBCUniversal's fine by 30% as a noble gesture since the company cooperated with the regulators during the investigations.

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• According to Bloomberg Law, the high court declined to review Comcast’s appeal of a March federal court ruling, which in turn, had upheld an earlier ban issued by the International Trade Commission (ITC) on Comcast X1 set-tops that were determined to have infringed on two TiVo patents.

• The patents pertaining to this most recent SCOTUS ruling—one of which deals with setting remote DVR recording via smart phones—have expired.

• The U.S. Supreme Court denied a Comcast appeal in the cable company’s sprawling four-year patent infringement battle with TiVo/Xperi.

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• Major Travis Yates has filed a lawsuit against Comcast, Gannett, Public Radio Tulsa, Gatehouse Media and others, saying their reports portrayed him in a "false light."

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• Cable giant Comcast Corp. unveiled a $100-million plan to support social justice and equality, making it the latest major media and entertainment company to pledge financial action amid nationwide protests against police brutality.

Company response

• Denial — Comcast

  In a statement, Comcast called the suit “meritless” and said it would “vigorously defend ourselves against Altitude’s claims.”

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• In a statement, Comcast called the suit “meritless” and said it would “vigorously defend ourselves against Altitude’s claims.”

• Denver-area regional sports network Altitude, blacked out by Comcast since August, sued the cable operator charging Comcast with violating antitrust laws and trying to put Altitude out of business.

Company response

• Denial — Comcast

  Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News, denied Fennell’s discrimination claims.

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• Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News, denied Fennell’s discrimination claims.

• In a 45-page federal lawsuit filed last week, Klayton Fennell, the company’s senior vice president of government affairs, claims that he was denied equal pay, passed over for promotions and called a derogatory name by an unnamed colleague due to his sexuality.

• “At no time during Klay Fennell’s long career at Comcast has he been discriminated against or been the subject of wrongful treatment,” the company wrote in an email.

Company response

• Denial — Comcast

  “While we do not generally comment on pending litigation, this complaint represents nothing more than a string of inflammatory, inaccurate, and unsupported allegations,” Comcast said in a statement.

• Denial — Comcast

  On Monday, Comcast called Allen’s allegations “frivolous.”

• Clarification — Comcast

  The company, in a statement, said it has been involved in “good faith negotiations” for several years to strike a carriage deal for Allen’s channels.

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• In a suit filed in U.S. District Court in California on Feb. 20, the NAAAOM claims that Comcast has refused to do business with 100% African American owned businesses, alleging that the media giant spends about $25 billion annually to license pay TV channels and on advertising, yet 100% African-American owned media receive less than $3 million per year.

• Television entrepreneur Byron Allen has filed a $20-billion racial discrimination lawsuit against cable giants Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable.

• The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, contends that Allen’s company has been thwarted in his attempts to secure distribution for its small networks on cable systems owned by Comcast and Time Warner Cable.