Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

The Ferguson File - August 2018

Dear Friends,

My office won several major legal victories in August that will help people not just in Washington state, but across the country.

We blocked the legalized distribution of untraceable, undetectable 3D-printed guns to individuals, including felons and domestic violence abusers.

We halted the use of a neurotoxic pesticide on dozens of food crops. We restored the life-saving Chemical Disaster Rule that the federal government put in place after the tragic explosion at the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, Washington.

In addition, hundreds of thousands of fast-food workers across the country benefited from the next step in my initiative to eliminate “no-poach” clauses. Eight more fast-food corporations agreed to end no-poach restrictions on workers that restrict mobility and place downward pressure on wages.

We also recovered more than a half million dollars from a sham charity that claimed to use the vast majority of its donations to fund mammograms, but actually lined the pockets of the charity’s board president. I honored the intent of the generous Washingtonians who gave to this sham charity by providing the money we recovered to a program that provides free breast cancer screens to uninsured and underinsured women in Washington state.  

In this issue:

Thank you for following the work of the Attorney General’s Office.

Sincerely,

 

Bob Ferguson
Washington State Attorney General


Attorney General Ferguson talks to press about the temporary restraining order

Extending the block on untraceable firearms

This month, my office was in court to extend a block on the Trump Administration’s dangerous decision that gives criminals and terrorists access to downloadable, untraceable and undetectable 3D-printed weapons.

After successfully arguing for three years that allowing the distribution of downloadable guns over the internet was dangerous to national security, the Trump Administration’s State Department abruptly reversed course earlier this year. The administration settled a lawsuit with Defense Distributed — an organization dedicated to global distribution of open-source, downloadable 3D-printed guns — legalizing that distribution.

I led a multistate lawsuit to block the Trump Administration's action in July. On July 31, Judge Robert Lasnik of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington granted a temporary restraining order, stopping the legal online distribution of 3D-printed guns nationwide.

Although President Trump said he was glad the legalization was delayed, his administration still opposed a preliminary injunction in our case. Judge Lasnik granted the injunction in August, extending the court’s order blocking the legalized distribution of downloadable 3D-printed guns until the matter is resolved in court.

The Trump Administration’s decision doesn’t make any sense. Why would the administration allow these untraceable, undetectable 3D-printed guns to be available to domestic abusers, felons and terrorists? If the Trump Administration won’t keep us safe, we will.

 

Q13 
Seattle judge blocks online plans for printing untraceable 3D guns

KUOW 
Federal judge in Seattle halts 3D printed gun downloads

KOMO News
Judge blocks 3D gun plans from internet


 

Person cradling small plant

Protecting Washingtonians from neurotoxic pesticide  

Chlorpyrifos is an ingredient in numerous pesticide products, used on more than 80 food crops nationwide. Scientific evidence has documented the harmful effects chlorpyrifos has on human health, such as lower IQ and attention deficit disorders. Despite this evidence, the Environmental Protection Agency halted the safety review for the pesticide in March 2017, without finding any level at which use of the pesticide is safe. Former EPA head Scott Pruitt did not provide any reason for the halt, only that the evidence was unresolved. His action allowed the use of chlorpyrifos at any level.

My office joined a lawsuit against the EPA. This August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit agreed with my office that the EPA improperly halted the safety review. The court reversed the EPA’s decision to allow continued use of chlorpyrifos, and ordered the EPA to revoke all uses on food within 60 days. 

The EPA’s mission is not ambiguous: Protection is literally its middle name. Yet, it took a federal lawsuit to force the EPA to do its job. The EPA cannot ignore science at the expense of Washingtonians.

 

SeattlePI 
Court orders EPA to stop use of a harmful pesticide in 60 days

KIRO-7 
Court says EPA ignored dangers of pesticide linked to brain damage in kids, orders ban

OPB 
Harmful Pesticide Ban Ordered By US Appeals Court


Two workers at a refinery

Putting worker safety over pandering to special interests

After a number of high-profile accidents around the nation, including the 2010 Tesoro refinery explosion in Washington, the Environmental Protection Agency created the Chemical Disaster Rule. The rule aims to reduce the threat of chemical releases with new standards and required safety audits and bolsters emergency preparedness. After the rule was finalized on Jan. 13, 2017, the Trump Administration’s EPA decided to reconsider the rule and delayed its implementation three times. I asked a federal court to review the delays in July 2017, arguing that they violated the Clean Air Act. 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agreed with me and 10 other attorneys general that the delay violated the Clean Air Act. The court criticized the delay in its ruling, writing the EPA’s reasoning “makes a mockery of the statute” and the agency “delayed life-saving protections.”

Washington has first-hand experience with the types of disasters this rule was designed to prevent. I won’t allow the Trump Administration to ignore the law to advance the interests of the oil and chemical industry, at the expense of worker safety.

 

The Columbian 
Limits of Trump’s environment deregulation evident in court

Reuters 
U.S. court orders Trump administration to enforce chemical safety rule


 

Worker Protection Initiative logo

Eliminating no-poach clauses at more fast-food chains nationwide

In January, my office began investigating no-poach clauses, which prevent workers from moving among locations within the same fast-food brand. The clauses are found in franchise contracts and workers are often unaware they exist. According to economists, these clauses decrease competition, reduce opportunities for low-wage workers and stagnate wages.

In July, I announced that seven large, corporate fast-food chains agreed to end these restrictions on workers nationwide. This August, eight more companies joined this list.

Like their predecessors, these eight will immediately end the practice at all locations across the country and stop adding the provisions to new franchise contracts. The fifteen companies have more than 40,000 locations nationwide, meaning hundreds of thousands of workers will benefit.

My goal is to eliminate no-poach clauses in the fast-food industry nationwide. This is a major step forward in achieving that goal, but we’re not done. I will continue to investigate, and I expect that we will reach a resolution with other fast-food corporations. If not, I am prepared to file a lawsuit.

 

KIRO-7 News 
More restaurants agree to end "No-Poach" agreements

NPR 
8 Restaurant Chains Agree To End 'No-Poach' Agreements Under Threat Of Lawsuit

The New York Times 
8 Fast-Food Chains Will End ‘No-Poach’ Policies


Woman speaking to doctor

Making sure donations made to sham charity honor donors’ intent

After receiving multiple complaints that the Breast Cancer Prevention Fund (BCPF) was misleading donors, my office began investigating the organization in 2011. The organization led thousands of Washington donors to believe that the majority of their donations went to fund mammograms, when in actuality about 80 percent went to a telemarketing firm. That firm was owned by the charity’s board president, who pocketed nearly half of money the telemarketing firm received from BCPF. This past month, I joined Washington Secretary of Health John Wiesman to announce that the more than half a million dollars we recovered in the case will fund breast cancer screenings for underinsured women, as donors intended.

It’s unfortunate that my office has had so many cases against deceptive charitable organizations. There are thousands of legitimate organizations for consumers to support. I will continue to serve as a watchdog, but it’s important that consumers do their homework before handing over their hard-earned money to an organization. If you think that you are a victim of a scam, let my office know about it.

 

KING-5 News 
Washington sues bogus breast cancer charity; wins $500k for screening services

KIRO-7 News 
Women to get mammograms after funds recovered from bankrupt charity


 

 
 

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