Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

SEATTLE - July 20, 1998 -- Two Canadian telemarketers have agreed to cease all operations in the United States and pay $900,000 (Canadian) for allegedly using illegal and deceptive practices when selling foreign lottery tickets to U.S. citizens.
Seattle -July 14, 1998-- Money consumers generously gave to buy food baskets for the needy is finally going to its intended cause and not into the pockets of the fund-raiser who originally collected the donations.
Seattle-June 29, 1998-A King County jury today found that the state was not liable for damages for its role in an investigation into allegations of child sex abuse in the Wenatchee area.  Two of the plaintiffs in the suit alleged that the Department of Social and Health Services and a Child Protective Services supervisor were liable for damages arising from the involvement of DSHS employees in the Wenatchee investigation conducted by local law enforcement officials.
SEATTLE - June 11, 1998 - Washington's e-mail users now have some protection against those who inundate their e-mail boxes with junk e-mail. Today Washington's new junk e-mail law went into effect making it illegal to use false or misleading information when sending an unsolicited, commercial e-mail.
SEATTLE - June 11, 1998 - King County Superior Court Judge George Finkle has granted the state's request to use key portions of a document the state claims will provide strong evidence of wrongdoing by the nation's largest tobacco company, RJR Tobacco. The state expects to use the document as evidence in its upcoming trial against the tobacco industry.
RICHLAND - June 8, 1998 – With the Columbia River as a backdrop, Gov. Gary Locke and Attorney General Christine Gregoire today announced plans to sue the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) for failing to comply with two milestones in a Hanford cleanup agreement.
SEATTLE - May 28, 1998 -- Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire and 43 other attorneys general have negotiated a $2.6 million national settlement with America Online (AOL) that gives consumers important new protections.
SEATTLE - May 22, 1998 - The State of Washington today settled three lawsuits against two credit insurance sales consulting companies for allegedly encouraging auto dealers to hide the costs of extra products in the payment quotes they made to customers.
At this time the Washington State Attorney General's Office has declined to join the lawsuit brought by some Attorneys General against Microsoft.
SEATTLE - May 5, 1998 - King County Superior Court Judge, George A. Finkle, today denied Washington state's request to compel the tobacco industry to turn over the 39,000 industry documents recently released to Congress and the State of Minnesota. The industry had released the internal memos, research summaries, and other sensitive industry documents last month in response to a subpoena by House Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas Bliley (R-VA).

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