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Jun 19 2020
Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced that the consumer protection and other affirmative litigation divisions of the Attorney General’s Office have recovered more than $650 million for Washingtonians and state and tribal governments since January 2013. This represents a return on investment of $35 for every $1 the state has spent on funding for this work.
Jun 16 2020
A report released today details Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s two-year investigation that has eliminated no-poach clauses in franchise agreements nationwide for every company that has three or more locations in Washington. As a result of Ferguson’s initiative to end the practice, which he launched in 2018, millions of workers at 237 corporate franchise chains across the country are now protected from no-poach clauses.
Jun 4 2020
SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced an important legal victory in his effort to crack down on illegal robocallers. King County Superior Court judge ruled that Vancouver, Washington-based air duct cleaning companies and their owner broke the law by illegally robocalling Washington consumers. The court also determined that the companies engaged in unfair and deceptive business practices in violation of the Consumer Protection Act. Ferguson filed the complaint in September 2019 after his investigation revealed that the companies contacted more than a million Washington consumers with more than 13 million robocalls. Additionally, the companies sent tens of millions of deceptive advertisements to Washingtonians’ homes over a two year period.
Jun 2 2020
SEATTLE — Today Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a civil lawsuit against Starkist, one of the world’s largest canned tuna manufacturers and the former CEO of Bumble Bee Foods, another large tuna manufacturer, over a price-fixing conspiracy that drove up the cost of packaged tuna for more than a decade, costing Washingtonians at least $6 million. Ferguson’s lawsuit makes Washington the first state to bring a case over this conspiracy.
May 27 2020
TACOMA — Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced today that Nevada-based JRK Residential Group Inc. will pay nearly $350,000 — including almost $300,000 directly to tenants in the form of refunds, payments and rent forgiveness — to resolve a lawsuit Ferguson filed in April over the company’s violations of the state’s emergency eviction moratorium. Ferguson’s lawsuit was the first filed to enforce one of Gov. Jay Inslee’s emergency proclamations.
May 19 2020
OLYMPIA — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced consumer protection lawsuits against two gyms that continue to operate in violation of Gov. Jay Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” proclamation. Both business owners have received multiple warnings that, by continuing to operate, they were endangering public health. In addition, they are engaging in an unfair business practice while their competitors remain closed. Consequently, the gyms are gaining an unfair advantage over their competitors who are complying with the proclamation, which violates the Consumer Protection Act.
May 19 2020
OLYMPIA — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced that Santander Consumer USA Inc., the nation’s largest subprime auto financing company, will pay as much as $6.4 million to Washingtonians in the form of cash relief and loan forgiveness, following a years-long, multistate investigation into its lending and loan servicing practices.
May 4 2020
OLYMPIA — As a result of a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Bob Ferguson, a Pierce County Superior Court judge ruled today that a Tacoma-based towing company and its owner, Kristine Zachary, illegally auctioned off vehicles owned by active-duty military service members.
Apr 28 2020
Attorney General Bob Ferguson is warning a Seattle-based business to stop selling and administering a so-called COVID-19
“vaccine.” Ferguson warns that if the company, North Coast Biologics, or its owner, Johnny T. Stine, don’t stop making false or unsupported claims about the product, they could face a lawsuit from Ferguson under the state Consumer Protection Act.
Apr 24 2020
Attorney General Bob Ferguson and a bipartisan group of 27 attorneys general are calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to join them in urging the telecommunications industry to expand commitments to protect consumers who are struggling financially as a result of COVID-19.