November 6
AT&T misled customers with false promises about unlimited data, according to federal officials who described the practice as a “bait-and-switch scam.” Now AT&T is paying up.
A new study suggests that soccer can be just as dangerous for female athletes as football is for boys.
And a school resource officer in Florida is charged with a felony after he was seen on video body-slamming a teenage girl
Here’s what you need to know in the daily roundup.
TOP STORY: AT&T ‘Baited’ Customers With Fake Unlimited Data Plans: Regulators
AT&T to pay $60 million to resolve FTC allegations it misled consumers with ‘unlimited data’ promises. Wireless operator to provide refunds to current, former customers: t.co/W3yFcoq15z
AT&T misled customers by promoting unlimited data plans that turned out to be fake, according to federal investigators. The Federal Trade Commission first sued the company back in 2014, over allegations that AT&T was reducing data speeds to smartphone customers once they had used a certain amount of data.
AT&T has agreed to pay a $60 million fine to settle the case, which has been dragging on for five years. Customers who purchased unlimited plans from AT&T before 2011 will receive partial refunds; customers are not required to submit a claim. As part of the settlement, AT&T is also barred from “making any representation about the speed or amount of its mobile data, including that it is ‘unlimited,’ without disclosing any material restrictions on the speed or amount of data.”
FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra described AT&T’s practice as a “bait-and-switch scam.” In a statement about the settlement, Chopra explained, “Subscribers were lured in with promises of unlimited data service for a fixed fee, trapped into multiple years of service by punitive termination fees, and then forced to switch to a more expensive tiered plan with overage fees to actually receive the unlimited data they were promised.”
A spokesman for AT&T, Jim Greer, said the company denies the accusation that it ever sought to scam its customers. He said in a prepared statement, “None of these allegations were ever proved in court. We were fully prepared to defend ourselves, but decided settling was in the best interests of consumers.”
WHAT’S BUZZING THAT HAS EVERYONE TALKING: Female Soccer Players & the Risk of Concussions
A new study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that soccer is just as dangerous as football in terms of the risk of suffering a traumatic brain injury. Researchers at the University of North Carolina have found that young girls are more susceptible to concussions than boys on the soccer field.
The study found that boys’ football carries the greatest risk of concussion, with 10 concussions per every 10,000 practices or games. Girls’ soccer was the second-most dangerous sport, with 8 per 10,000. Male soccer players experience far fewer concussions, according to the study.
Researchers say girls have weaker necks than boys, which could be putting them at greater risk of a serious head injury. Girls may also be more likely to speak up after hitting their heads.
The UNC team found that among female soccer players, hard collisions with other players accounted for about half of the reported concussions. Heading the ball made up about 25 percent of the head injuries.
OFF-BEAT: Florida Officer Body-Slams Student
A school resource officer in Broward County, Florida, is facing a charge of felony child abuse after he was seen on a surveillance camera body-slamming a 15-year-old girl. Deputy Willard Miller was arrested and the department has also opened an internal investigation.
The incident happened in late September at Cross Creek School. In the video embedded above, you can see the teenager tap the back of Deputy Miller’s leg with her foot. He was on the phone and looked up after feeling the tap. Officials said the surveillance video did not include audio, therefore it is unclear what the teen and Deputy Miller said to each other. Two other teens were also in the room at the time.
The tackle happened about a minute after the teen tapped Deputy Miller’s leg, officials said. In the video, he appears to grab her by the neck before knocking her to the ground.
Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony described the incident as “embarrassing” for the department during a press conference and that Deputy Miller’s actions were uncalled for and unnecessary.
Sheriff Tony added that incidents like this have a negative impact on all members of law enforcement. He said, “When we have one individual that acts outside the confines of the oath that they take, it goes on every news channel. It spreads across the country and it impacts not only the agency but everybody that carries a badge on their chest in this county, in this state, and across the country.”
DAILY NEWS ROUNDUP
The arctic parade will continue with potential record mid-November #cold next week in the Plains, Midwest, South and East. t.co/YXUc1RFdg1
- Record cold temperatures for mid-November are expected across the central and eastern U.S.
- Kevin Tyrell Davis was identified as the victim in the deadly stabbing at a Popeyes in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
- Alexis Crawford, a student at Clark Atlanta University, has been missing since October 30.
- Teenager Alaina Gassler of West Grove, PA won $25,000 for creating a prototype to eliminate blind spots in vehicles.
- “The Little Mermaid Live!” debuted on ABC last night.
CHECK THIS OUT
A father in Yorktown, Virginia, has gone viral over his enthusiasm for high school football. Hekili Holland was recorded following along with his daughter’s cheerleading routine in the stands. The cheer routine he learned is the one the girls perform following a touchdown.
The original video shared to Facebook has been viewed more than 3.3 million times. The man who posted it, Scott Willard, told Good Morning America that Holland had been performing the dance for the past few weeks. He decided to get it on video during a game on November 1. “In the fourth quarter I leaned over and jokingly said to my wife, ‘if York scores again I’m making this guy viral.'” Willard said he never imagined the video would spread as far as it did.
Holland told ABC, “if this brings joy to folks then I’m happy to be that guy.”
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