Cause of Action recently filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission asking it to investigate allegations that Board Chairman of DISH Network Corporation, Charles Ergen, violated the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) by compelling C-level executives (CEO, CFO etc.) to contribute to various political funds, including the corporate PAC.
The objective of FECA is to regulate the influence of money on politics by requiring that contributions from executive employees to the corporate PAC be voluntary. As a result, it is illegal for a corporate PAC to solicit funds from executive employees by threatening them with physical force, job discrimination, or financial reprisals. Similarly, the corporation must inform the employees that their refusal to contribute will not carry a risk of reprisal.
In the case of Dish Network, Cause of Action is concerned that FECA laws may have been broken. By allegedly compelling executives to make political contributions by threatening their job security, DISH Network Corporation undermined the purpose of FECA, an act that, if true, shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Cause of Action has asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate these allegations. You can see our filing here.
