Report Reveals How AT&T Bankrolls Far-Right Disinformation Outlet One America News
Corporate conductAllegationAgainst
AT&T Inc. is accused of concealing foreign hacker breaches
AT&T Inc. is accused of concealing repeated foreign hacker intrusions in violation of the law, according to a lawsuit from a former IBM cybersecurity official.
The whistleblower complaint against IBM and AT&T was filed under seal in 2020 and is still pending before a federal court.Getty Images—Matthias Balk/picture alliance
and AT&T Inc.’s computer systems were repeatedly breached by foreign hackers, and the companies concealed those intrusions from the US government in violation of the law, according to a lawsuit from a former IBM cybersecurity official.
IBM, AT&T accused by whistleblower of covering up foreign hacks
IBM, AT&T accused by whistleblower of covering up foreign hacks | Fortune
and AT&T Inc.’s computer systems were repeatedly breached by foreign hackers, and the companies concealed those intrusions from the US government in violation of the law, according to a lawsuit from a former IBM cybersecurity official.
Privacy & surveillanceRulingAgainst
AT&T was fined $57 million by the Federal Communications Commission for mishandling customer data
In an internal proceed- ing, the Commission found that AT&T violated section 222 of the Telecommunications Act by mishandling cus- tomer data and fined the company $57 million.
24-60223 8 AT&T elected to timely pay the penalty and seek review in our court.
In an internal proceeding, the Commission found that AT&T violated section 222 of the Telecommunications Act by mishandling customer data and fined the company $57 million.
AT&T’s petition argues, among other things, that the in -house adjudication violated the Constitution by denying it an Article III decisionmaker and a jury trial .
In an internal proceed- ing, the Commission found that AT&T violated section 222 of the Telecommunications Act by mishandling cus- tomer data and fined the company $57 million.
Corporate conductSettlementAgainst
AT&T settles for $60 million over data throttling allegations
The FTC settled with AT&T for $60 million after alleging the wireless provider failed to disclose that unlimited data plans would throttle speeds for heavy users.
The $60 million paid by AT&T as part of the settlement will be deposited into a fund that the company will use to provide partial refunds to both current and former customers who had originally signed up for unlimited plans prior to 2011 but were throttled by AT&T. Affected consumers will not be required to submit a claim for the refunds.
“AT&T promised unlimited data—without qualification—and failed to deliver on that promise,” said Andrew Smith, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
The $60 million paid by AT&T as part of the settlement will be deposited into a fund that the company will use to provide partial refunds to both current and former customers who had originally signed up for unlimited plans prior to 2011 but were throttled by AT&T.
After AT&T challenged whether the FTC had jurisdiction to bring the case, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in 2018 ruled that the FTC did have jurisdiction and authority to challenge the company’s marketing of mobile data services, allowing the Commission’s case to proceed.
AT&T to Pay $60 Million to Resolve FTC Allegations It Misled Consumers with ‘Unlimited Data’ Promises
The money paid by AT&T was deposited into a fund that the company used to provide partial refunds to current and former customers who had unlimited plans that were throttled by AT&T. The company gave a bill credit to current AT&T customers and sent refund checks to former customers.
Former AT&T customers may be eligible to claim a refund from the $7 million remaining in a fund created to settle allegations that the wireless provider charged for “unlimited” data plans while reducing their data speeds, a practice known as throttling.
AT&T has not been able to reach everyone who was eligible for a refund.
The Federal Trade Commission opened a claims process for former AT&T customers who have yet to claim a refund stemming from the FTC’s lawsuit against the company for misleading consumers about its unlimited data plans.
The FTC in 2019 required AT&T to provide $60 million for refunds for failing to disclose to millions of smartphone customers with unlimited data plans that once they reached a certain amount of data use in a given billing cycle, AT&T would reduce or throttle their data speeds.
The company gave a bill credit to current AT&T customers and sent refund checks to former customers.
The money paid by AT&T was deposited into a fund that the company used to provide partial refunds to current and former customers who had unlimited plans that were throttled by AT&T.
The FTC’s $60 million settlement with AT&T, announced in 2019, resolved allegations that the wireless provider failed to adequately disclose to its unlimited data plan customers that, if they reach a certain amount of data use in a given billing cycle, AT&T would reduce—or “throttle”—their data speeds to the point that many common mobile phone applications, such as web browsing and video streaming, became difficult or nearly impossible to use.
In 2020, as a result of the settlement, the company gave a bill credit to current AT&T customers and sent refund checks to former customers, which resulted in $52 million returned to consumers.
But when a customer exceeded an arbitrary data-use ceiling, AT&T “throttled” the speed of data transmission for the rest of the month, which degraded the quality of the service and made many common applications virtually unusable.
The FTC’s Enforcement Lawsuit The FTC sued AT&T in October 2014, charging that its throttling of customers to whom it had promised unlimited data was an unfair practice and that the inadequate notice made it deceptive.
Exhibit B: Notice to Former Customers 11, Rrst-Oass Letter fDatl'l] Dear C:1,ment or former AT& l' Customer; AT&T and the federalTradeComniission settled 'a lawsuit alleging that AT&, reduced the data speed 011 unlimited ' .data ,plans without telli11g customers; As part pl the settl1m1ent, we are giving former cu>tomers m.oney back.
Climate & energySettlementAgainst
AT&T settles for failing to report hazardous batteries
AT&T settles for failing to report hazardous batteries in California's environmental reporting system.
AT&T), filed in the Santa Cruz Superior Court, centered around the telecommunication company’s failure to report hazardous materials (batteries) with the California Environmental Reporting System (CERS).
- District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced that a multi-million dollar settlement has been reached with AT&T over hazardous environmental practices in Ventura County and across the state of California.
Reporting the use of hazardous materials to CERS is required by law and has also been a part of AT&T’s Hazardous Materials Business Plan.
If approved by the court, under the final judgment, AT&T must pay $18.8 million in civil penalties and costs.
An additional $3 million will fund supplemental environmental projects furthering consumer protection and environmental enforcement in California, and AT&T will pay a minimum of $2 million to enhance its environmental compliance.
Corporate conductConfirmedAgainst
AT&T obtained funding via false certifications
AT&T obtained funding based on false certifications it made under penalty of perjury.
AT&T has also agreed to engage in affirmative recruiting of visually impaired individuals by cooperating with local organizations that serve that workforce.
AT&T to Pay $250,000 and Reinstate Employee to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit
Under the consent decree resolving EEOC's claims, aside from significant monetary relief, AT&T has agreed to reinstate Meléndez into a new position in its San Juan location and to offer him reasonable accommodations in compliance with the ADA.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - AT&T, a multi-national telecommunications company, will pay $250,000, reinstate an employee, and furnish other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.
AT&T to Pay $250,000 and Reinstate Employee to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
AT&T will also conduct annual training for its managers in Puerto Rico, post a notice about the lawsuit in its Puerto Rico locations where customer service representatives and its Network Field Operations employees are located, and report ADA complaints from Puerto Rico to EEOC.
LGBTQ+ policiesConfirmedYou decide
AT&T donated at least $1,396,650 to anti-LGBTQ legislators between January 2022 and June 2023
The documented action involving AT&T concerns anti lgbtq legislation.
Last month, shareholders targeted AT&T because of its donations to lawmakers who enacted voting restrictions.
After passage of that law and another restrictive voting bill, which requires proof of residency, AT&T donated more than $244,000 to legislators who supported the bills and to Abbott, who signed them into law, according to another Accountable.US report released last month.
Yet, in the 2020 cycle, AT&T has donated $250,000 to the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA).
But since 2020, AT&T has donated more than $86,000 to Florida politicians behind the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, including $80,000 to Governor Ron DeSantis (R).
In early June, AT&T signed a letter, organized by the Human Rights Campaign, opposing "bills being introduced in state houses across the country that single out LGBTQ individuals - many specifically targeting transgender youth - for exclusion or differential treatment." Days later, AT&T's corporate PAC donated $5,000 to Ivey, who is targeting LGBTQ youth with discriminatory legislation.
Since 2019, AT&T has donated almost $1.1 million to anti-LGBTQ members of Congress who were rated "zero" by the Human Rights Campaign. The company also donated to the sponsors of anti-trans legislation in Arkansas ($12,950), Tennessee ($4,000), North Carolina ($5,000), Texas ($22,500), and Florida ($17,500).
The Keep Your Pride campaign, a project of Corporate Accountability Action, says AT&T, Anheuser-Busch, The Coca-Cola Company, General Motors, and NBCUniversal have contributed to lawmakers who support discriminatory, anti-trans legislation.
Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), one of the lawmakers featured in the new report, has received campaign donations from corporate PACs representing 3M, Amazon, Walmart, AT&T, and other companies that collectively received billions of dollars in tax breaks from the Republican law, which restored a provision allowing businesses to immediately write off new investments.
In AT&T’s 2020 Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Report, CEO John Stankey said one of the company’s “core values” was “gender equity and the empowerment of women.” But, from 2018 to 2021, AT&T donated $301,000 to the sponsors of Texas’ draconian abortion ban.
But between January 2022 and June 2023, AT&T donated at least $1,396,650 to anti-LGBTQ legislators.
Telecom giant AT&T was the most prolific, donating more than $800,000 since 2015 to authors of proposed restrictions, co-sponsors of such measures or those who voted in favor of the bills, the report found.
Last month, shareholders targeted AT&T because of its donations to lawmakers who enacted voting restrictions.
After passage of that law and another restrictive voting bill, which requires proof of residency, AT&T donated more than $244,000 to legislators who supported the bills and to Abbott, who signed them into law, according to another Accountable.US report released last month.
In 2022, AT&T invested approximately $135 million to engage employees in 8 million hours of education and training, plus $10.5 million in higher education tuition assistance.6
Corporate conductAllegationAgainst
AT&T is accused of violating California's Consumer Legal Remedies Act
AT&T is accused of violating California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act through its arbitration provision in customer agreements.
AT&T sued over hidden fee that raises mobile prices above advertised rate - Ars Technica
The suit accuses AT&T of violating California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, and it says that AT&T can’t sidestep the lawsuit because the arbitration provision in AT&T’s standard customer agreement violates California law.
The lawsuit also asks for a permanent injunction to force AT&T to stop charging the fee, as well as an order forcing AT&T to pay damages, restitution, and legal costs to the class.
Workplace equityAllegationAgainst
AT&T is accused of age discrimination
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed an age discrimination lawsuit against AT&T and its subsidiaries.
Former AT&T Workers Denied Reemployment Because They Retired, Agency Charges
NEW YORK The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed an age discrimination lawsuit against AT&T, Inc. and a number of its subsidiaries, the agency announced today.
Workplace equitySettlementAgainst
The EEOC filed suit against AT&T Inc., AT&T Corp.
The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. AT&T Inc., AT&T Corp., AT&T Services, Inc. and Pacific Bell Telephone Company, d/b/a/ AT&T California, Case No. 09-CIV-7323) in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Aug. 20, 2009, after first trying to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
AT&T denied the allegations in the lawsuit, but agreed to change its policies related to the reemployment of retirees.
The EEOC had charged that AT&T, Inc. and a number of its subsidiaries discriminated against a class of retired AT&T workers by denying them the opportunity for reemployment solely because they retired under certain early retirement or enhanced severance programs.
The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. AT&T Inc., AT&T Corp., AT&T Services, Inc. and Pacific Bell Telephone Company, d/b/a/ AT&T California, Case No. 09-CIV-7323) in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Aug. 20, 2009, after first trying to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.