Legal Library: Cases and Proceedings

Unrollme Inc. reached a settlement with the FTC over allegations that the company deceived some consumers about how it accesses and uses their personal emails.

According to the agency’s April 2019 complaint, UrthBox violated the FTC Act by misrepresenting that positive consumer reviews on the BBB’s and other websites reflected the independent experiences or opinions of impartial consumers, while the reviewers actually had a material connection to the company. The FTC alleged that UrthBox did not adequately disclose that some consumers received compensation, including free snack boxes, to post those positive reviews. The final order settling the FTC’s charges bars the respondents from engaging in similar conduct and requires them to pay $100,000 to the FTC. In December 2019, the FTC returned more than $84,000 to compensate consumers charged after signing up for the trial offer.

The FTC filed a complaint in federal district court charging Qualcomm Inc. with using anticompetitive tactics to maintain its monopoly in the supply of a key semiconductor device used in cell phones and other consumer products.

In June 2018, the final two defendants among a group of California-based marketers were permanently barred from the deceptive marketing and billing tactics used in connection with selling skincare products offered to consumers with supposedly “risk-free” trials. The court order settled the charges against them, which the FTC announced in mid-2015. In all, 32 defendants who sold AuraVie, Dellure, LéOR Skincare, and Miracle Face Kit branded skincare products agreed to court orders with the FTC or had default orders entered against them. In November 2019, the FTC announced it was returning over $1.8 million to consumers who bought the deceptively marketed products.

Food distributor US Foods, Inc. has agreed to divest assets to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that US Foods, Inc.’s proposed $1.8 billion acquisition of Services Group of America, Inc. would violate federal antitrust law. The complaint alleges that, in Eastern Idaho, Western North Dakota, Eastern North Dakota, and the Seattle area, the transaction would eliminate a key broadline distributor and limit customers’ ability to switch between distributors to obtain better pricing and service. Under the proposed consent agreement, within 30 days of the acquisition closing, US Foods must divest three FSA distribution centers: one in Boise, Idaho; another in Fargo, North Dakota (FSA competes in both Eastern and Western North Dakota out of this facility); and a third in the greater Seattle area. On Nov. 19, 2019, the FTC announced that it has approved a final order settling the charges.

LifeLock paid $100 million to settle Federal Trade Commission contempt charges that it violated the terms of a 2010 federal court order that requires the company to secure consumers' personal information and prohibits the company from deceptive advertising. 

The operator of a job placement company that deceived consumers with false promises of access to high-paying finance jobs and resume repair services for non-existent jobs will be permanently banned from providing employment services under the terms of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

Miami Beach-based retailer Truly Organic Inc. (Truly Organic) and its founder and CEO, Maxx Harley Appelman, will pay $1.76 million to settle a FTC complaint alleging that their nationally marketed bath and beauty products are neither “100% organic” nor “certified organic” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Chemical companies Quaker Chemical Corp and Houghton International Inc. have agreed to divest assets to a subsidiary of French multinational corporation Total S.A., to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that Quaker’s proposed $1.4 billion acquisition of Houghton would violate federal antitrust law. According to the complaint, the proposed acquisition would harm competition in the North American market for aluminum hot rolling oil and associated technical support services; and in the North American market for steel cold rolling oils, and associated technical support services. Steel cold rolling oils include sheet cold rolling oil, pickle oil, and tin plate rolling oil. Under the proposed settlement agreement, Quaker must divest Houghton’s North American aluminum hot rolling oil and steel cold rolling oil product lines and related assets to Total. On Sept. 12, 2019, the FTC announced that it has approved a final order in this matter.