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Every year the FTC brings hundreds of cases against individuals and companies for violating consumer protection and competition laws that the agency enforces. These cases can involve fraud, scams, identity theft, false advertising, privacy violations, anti-competitive behavior and more. The Legal Library has detailed information about cases we have brought in federal court or through our internal administrative process, called an adjudicative proceeding.
The Federal Trade Commission issued a proposed order imposing strict limits on future mergers by DaVita, Inc., a dialysis service provider with a history of fueling consolidation in life-saving health industries. The complaint alleged that DaVita’s proposed acquisition of the University of Utah Health’s dialysis clinics would reduce competition in vital outpatient dialysis services in the Provo, Utah market. Under the proposed order, DaVita is required to divest three Provo-area dialysis clinics to Sanderling Renal Services, Inc. and is prohibited from entering into or enforcing non-compete agreements and other employee restrictions.
A lead generation company that collected sensitive information from millions of consumers under the guise of connecting them with lenders will pay $1.5 million in civil penalties and face restrictions on their operations as a result of a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit.
The FTC’s complaintalleges that since at least 2012, ITMedia Solutions LLC, a number of affiliate companies, and their owners and officers have operated hundreds of websites that were designed to entice consumers into sharing their most sensitive financial information—including their Social Security numbers and bank account information. The defendants sold that information to marketing companies and others without regard for how the information would be used, according to the complaint.
Global Partners LP and Richard Wiehl have agreed to divest to Petroleum Marketing Investment Group, LLC, seven stores that sell gasoline and diesel fuel in five local markets in Connecticut, to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that Global’s proposed acquisition of 27 retail gasoline and diesel outlets owned or operated by Wiehl violates federal antitrust laws. The complaint alleges that the acquisition will harm competition for the retail sale of gasoline in and around the Connecticut towns and cities of Fairfield, Bethel, Milford, Wilton, and Shelton. In all of these local markets except Wilton, the acquisition will also harm competition for the retail sale of diesel fuel. Under the terms of the proposed consent order, among other stipulations, Global and Wiehl must divest to Petroleum Marketing Investment Group six Global retail fuel outlets and one Wheels retail fuel outlet.
Ascension will be required to implement a comprehensive data security program as part of a settlement resolving FTC allegations that the firm failed to ensure one of its vendors was adequately securing personal data about tens of thousands of mortgage holders.
To settle FTC charges that its actions violated the antitrust laws, the Board of Dental Examiners of Alabama agreed to stop requiring on-site supervision by licensed dentists of alignment scans of prospective patients’ mouths seeking to address misaligned teeth or gaps between teeth. According to the complaint, the board amended a rule to prohibit dental hygienists and other non-dentist practitioners from performing scans inside a patient’s mouth without on-site dentist supervision. The complaint alleges that the Board unreasonably excluded from competition providers of teledentistry-based teeth alignment products and services, and that it did this without adequate active supervision from neutral state officials, in violation of the FTC Act. On Dec. 21, 2021, the FTC announced the final consent agreement in this matter.
The Department of Justice on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission sued MyLife.com, Inc. and its CEO Jeffrey Tinsley over allegations they deceived consumers with “teaser background reports” that often falsely claimed to include information about arrest, criminal, and sex offender records, and also engaged in misleading billing and marketing practices.
Richard Fairbank, CEO of Capital One Financial Corp., has agreed to settleFederal Trade Commission charges that his March 8, 2018, acquisition of Capital One Financial (COF) stock violated the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. Under a negotiated settlement, Fairbank will pay a $637,950 civil penalty. The complaint alleges that in 2018, Fairbank violated the notice and waiting period requirements of the HSR Act because he did not file before acquiring COF voting securities in excess of the $100 million filing threshold, as adjusted (which at the time was $168.8 million).
Under an order with the FTC, OpenX Technologies, Inc. will be required to pay $2 million over allegations that the company collected personal information from children under 13 without parental consent. The FTC also alleged that the company collected geolocation information from users who specifically asked not to be tracked.
