In the past month, Florida’s Attorney General has received thousands of complaints about price gouging across the state. As a result, Florida is taking action. Attorney General Ashley Moody has issued dozens of subpoenas to third-party sellers on Amazon and secured thousands in refunds for consumers. The AG’s office has also been working with online platforms to deactivate price gouging accounts and has created a “Rapid Response Team” focused on price gouging. Florida is, and promises to remain, active on price gouging enforcement.
The House Targets Price Gouging, Again
Even though states are leading the way on price gouging enforcement, recent action in Congress may lead to overlapping federal government enforcement. Recent Congressional letters, statements, and proposed bills show a strong appetite for action on price gouging. House Democrats tried but failed to add price gouging language to the coronavirus relief package in March. Senators Klobuchar and Tillis have both introduced price gouging bills in the past month. This week, Representatives Schakowsky, Pallone, Cicilline, and Nadler introduced a standalone bill to create a federal price gouging regime for the current state of emergency.
$79.99 For Hand Sanitizer? New York AG Says Not While In My Hands
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, New York Attorney General Letitia James has stated her office will be aggressive in prosecuting price gouging. On March 10, AG James stated, “we will not tolerate schemes or frauds designed to turn large profits by exploiting people’s health concerns.” The NY Office of Attorney General (“OAG”) is tasked with enforcing New York General Business Law Section 396-r, which prohibits parties from selling or offering certain goods or services at an unconscionably excessive price during an abnormal disruption in the market.
California’s Crackdown on the Price Gouging Gold Rush
In early March, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra issued a consumer alert on price gouging. Two weeks later, police in San Diego arrested eight people for price gouging. The same week, investigations by Sacramento authorities prompted new warnings from local authorities. Since then, both the Governor and Attorney General have indicated price gouging will remain top of mind. Typically, price gouging laws extend for short periods — weeks or a month — but we now know that California price gouging rules will remain in effect through September.
Attacking Class Certification on a Motion to Dismiss? A Recent Decision Says There is a Way
Plaintiffs often try to define the broadest possible class at the outset of a case on the belief that the scope of the class can be refined on class certification after discovery has been completed. For this strategy to work, however, plaintiffs must get past the pleading stage. Historically, this
The Lynyrd Skynyrd Texting Case: Spoliation and Non-Party Texts
It was a tragedy. The 1977 plane crash that killed Ronnie Van Zant and Steven Gaines almost ended the band Lynyrd Skynyrd forever. In the wake of the crash, the survivors swore an oath never again to perform as “Lynyrd Skynyrd.” That oath made its way to court where it would be memorialized in a 1988 Consent Order outlining how and when surviving members could use the name “Lynyrd Skynyrd.”