In Coats v. Dish Network, plaintiff Brandon Coats, a quadriplegic who claims he used marijuana on his own time for medical reasons, sued Dish Network Corp. after the company fired him for his use of the drug. Coats argued that Dish had no cause to fire him because under Colorado's Lawful Activities Statute, employees are protected from being punished by employers for their legal, off-duty activities. The Court of Appeals decision, published April 25, held that an activity can be "lawful" under the state's Lawful Activities Statute only if it's legal under both state and federal law. That ruling could have broader implications for Colorado's Amendment 64, which changed state law to legalize small amounts of marijuana for recreational use but did not change federal laws. Denver attorney Michael Evans, who is representing Coats in the Dish case, told the Denver Business Journal earlier that they'll appeal the ruling to the Colorado Supreme Court. The April 25 decision was the second time the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled in favor of employers on the medical marijuana issue, Magruder said. In an Aug. 28, 2011, decision, the appeals court held that employee Jason M. Beinor wasn't entitled to collect unemployment benefits after being fired by Service Group Inc. for his medical marijuana use. The attorneys interviewed for this story agreed the Coats case had to be difficult for Dish, because the employee is disabled, had a medical marijuana card and, according to his attorney, had been ranked in the top 5% of Dish call center representatives.

Dish Network Corp. reported earnings results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013. For the quarter, the company reported revenues totaling $3.56 billion compared to $3.58 billion for the corresponding period in 2012. The decline was driven by reductions in the Blockbuster segment. During these same periods, subscriber-related revenue for the DISH segment increased from $3.22 billion to $3.35 billion, or 4.0%. Net income attributable to the company totaled $216 million compared to $360 million from the year-ago quarter. The decrease in year-over-year net income was primarily due to higher subscriber-related expenses driven by increased programming and subscriber acquisition costs. Additionally, results from the first quarter 2012 were favorably impacted by a non-cash gain of $99 million related to the conversion of certain DBSD North America notes. The company still expects free cash flow to be slightly higher than net income for the full year 2013.

Dish Network Corp. announced that they will report Q1, 2013 results at 8:00 AM, US Eastern Standard Time on May 09, 2013