Troutman Pepper Locke State Attorneys General Team

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Alaska’s Department of Law’s Consumer Protection Unit recently announced it obtained a Superior Court order issuing a $250,000 civil penalty against B. Merry Studio, which the state alleged to have marketed products as being made in Alaska, when the products were manufactured in the Philippines. The products at issue include knives, figurines, and animal carvings. While some of the products included raw materials sourced from Alaska, the products were assembled in the Philippines. When B. Merry Studio shipped the products to Alaska, their finishings included “Made in Philippines” stickers. The company allegedly replaced these stickers with labels that stated, “Alaskan Made” and “Made in Alaska.”

On March 7, Arizona Attorney General (AG) Kristin Mayes filed a novel lawsuit alleging consumer fraud and racketeering against numerous entities, individuals, and even law firms and title companies involved in the residential real estate market. The lawsuit is now pending in Maricopa County. The lawsuit offers a warning to entities, individuals, title companies, and even attorneys and law firms involved in the residential real estate industry.

The Washington State Attorney General’s (AG) Office filed a lawsuit against Renton Collections Inc., accusing the company of violating Washington’s Collection Agency Act by failing to include certain disclosures in their collection letters to debtors.

Recent actions by the Pennsylvania and Iowa state attorneys general (AG) suggest increasing regulatory scrutiny of bitcoin transaction machines (BTMs) in connection with the role they allegedly play in facilitating scams. In Pennsylvania, AG David Sunday issued a consumer alert, warning Pennsylvanians that scammers are using BTMs to gain access to their money. In Iowa, AG Brenna Bird brought two lawsuits against Bitcoin Depot and CoinFlip, Iowa’s two largest BTM operators, over alleged collection of illegal fees and failures that allowed Iowans to send millions of dollars to scammers through their kiosks.

On March 11, New Jersey Attorney General (AG) Matthew Platkin and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR) announced that DCR issued a finding of probable cause against Advance Funding Partners/Same Day Funding (Advance Funding), a company that provides cash advances and consumer loans, alleging that it violated the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination by discriminating against both consumers and employees.

On January 15, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Minnesota, and Illinois filed a lawsuit against Deere & Company (Deere). The complaint, which Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona have since joined, accuses Deere of creating and maintaining a repair services monopoly and engaging in anticompetitive business practices that interfere with farmers’ rights to repair their Deere agricultural equipment in violation of federal and state antitrust laws.

Massachusetts Attorney General (AG) Andrea Joy Campbell announced Massachusetts’ new consumer protection regulations prohibiting “junk fees” and providing consumers with greater transparency regarding trial and subscription offers, prohibiting unfair marketing tactics that obscure the true cost of a product or service. The regulations are intended to help consumers understand the total cost of products and services at the outset of a transaction, avoid fees, and make it easier to cancel unwanted costs associated with trial and subscription offers.

The New York Attorney General’s (AG) Office announced a $16.75 million settlement with DoorDash, the prominent delivery platform. The settlement relates to claims that DoorDash misled both consumers and delivery workers (Dashers) regarding the handling of tips. Specifically, AG Letitia James alleged that DoorDash employed a guaranteed pay model that was supposed to ensure that delivery workers knew their pay upfront. However, DoorDash allegedly used the model to redirect customer tips to subsidize the wages the company had guaranteed to the Dashers. Instead of giving Dashers the full tips as intended, the tips were used to reduce DoorDash’s payment obligations that were needed to satisfy the guaranteed payment amount.

Last week, in Tennessee v. EEOC, the Eighth Circuit reversed a district court’s decision and reinstated a lawsuit by 17 states (led by the Tennessee and Arkansas attorneys general (AGs)), holding that these states have standing to sue the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) over its regulations implementing the Pregnant­ Workers Fairness Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000gg. This decision deserves mention because the court seemingly made it easier to demonstrate standing by finding that the “realities facing” regulated parties can demonstrate a concrete injury even without a threat of enforcement.