Nearly every state and D.C. sue telecom company over billions of robocalls

Attorneys general from almost every state in the U.S. filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Avid Telecom, a company accused of making more than 7.5 billion robocalls to people on the National Do Not Call Registry. Attorneys general from the District of Columbia and every state except Alaska and South Dakota are acting as plaintiffs. 

The attorneys general are also suing Avid Telecom owner Michael Lansky and the company's vice president, Stacey Reeves. Avid Telecom received more than 320 notifications about illegal robocalls before the suit was filed, according to the complaint. 

"Defendants chose profit over running a business that conforms to state and federal law," the lawsuit alleged. "Defendants could have chosen to implement effective and meaningful procedures to prevent—or even significantly mitigate—the perpetration of illegal behavior onto and across Avid Telecom's network but chose not to do so," the lawsuit said.