Legal Library: Cases and Proceedings

The FTC along with law enforcement agencies from six states, sued Frontier Communications alleging that the company did not provide many consumers with Internet service at the speeds it promised them, and charged many of them for more expensive and higher-speed service than Frontier actually provided.

The FTC sued Kohl’s, Inc. and Walmart, Inc. for falsely marketing dozens of rayon textile products as bamboo. Both companies also are charged with making deceptive environmental claims, touting that the “bamboo” textiles were made using ecofriendly processes, while in reality converting bamboo into rayon requires the use of toxic chemicals and results in hazardous pollutants. The court orders settling the complaint require the companies to stop making deceptive green claims or using other misleading advertising, and pay penalties of $2.5 million and $3 million, respectively.

The Department of Justice filed a civil penalties complaint alleging that Lithionics Battery, LLC ("Lithionics") and Steven Tartaglia violated Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a) and violated the Made in USA Labeling Rule, 16 C.F.R. Part 323 (the “MUSA Labeling Rule”), in connection with the labeling and advertising of certain battery systems containing significant imported content as “Made in USA." The complaint further alleges that Lithionics' expressed or implied representations that its products are all or virtually all made in the United States are false or unsubstantiated. 

The FTC sued VoIP service provider VoIP Terminator, Inc., a related company, and the firms’ owner for assisting and facilitating the transmission of millions of illegal prerecorded telemarketing robocalls, including those they knew or should have known were scams, to consumers nationwide. Many of the calls originated overseas, and related to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the defendants allegedly failing to act as a gatekeeper to stop them from entering the country. The proposed consent order bars the defendants from the allegedly illegal conduct.

On behalf of the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice is suing Funeral & Cremation Group of North America, LLC, Legacy Cremation Services, LLC, d/b/a Heritage Cremation Provider, and their owner, Anthony Joseph Damiano, for misrepresenting their location and prices, illegally threatening and failing to return cremated remains to consumers, and failing to provide disclosures required by the Funeral Rule. The FTC is asking the court to stop violations of the FTC Act and the Funeral Rule and impose civil penalties on the defendants.

The Federal Trade Commission has taken action against a for-profit medical school in the Caribbean and its Illinois-based operators, alleging they deceptively marketed the school’s medical license exam test pass rate and residency matches to lure prospective students. The school and its operators are also charged with violating the Holder Rule, which preserves rights for injured consumers, and the Credit Practices Rule, which protects consumers in credit contracts. The $1.2 million judgment against Saint James School of Medicine and its operators will go toward refunds and debt cancellation for students harmed by the deceptive marketing.

A court has granted the Federal Trade Commission’s request to preliminarily halt a scheme in which the defendants operated hundreds of websites that promised a quick and easy government service, such as renewing a driver’s license, or eligibility determinations for public benefits. Following an evidentiary hearing, the court held that the FTC was likely to prevail in proving that “the websites were patently misleading.”

To settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it engaged in deceptive and unfair practices, Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) has agreed to an order requiring substantial changes in the firm’s operations that will benefit small- and mid-sized businesses. Under the proposed order, D&B will also provide refunds to certain businesses that purchased the company’s products in the belief that using the products would improve their business credit scores and ratings.