Announcements, information & updates from the Attorney General Alliance Members and Associates
November 5, 2021
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MISSING & MURDERED
INDIGENOUS WOMEN AND PEOPLE
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The meeting will be open to the public and will include an opportunity for people to provide comments. The Washington State Legislature created the Washington State MMIW/P Task Force as part of the effort to coordinate a statewide response to the urgent crisis of Indigenous people who go missing, are the victims of homicide or experience other types of gender-based violence in urban and tribal communities.
Violence against Indigenous women and within Indigenous communities continues to be underreported and misunderstood throughout Indian Country and the United States. Complex issues around jurisdiction and data collection have created obstacles to understanding the full extent of how many Indigenous women have gone been the victim of these types of crimes over generations.
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As a result of these settlements, the defendants, agreed to maintain anti-discrimination policies, provide anti-discrimination and fair housing training to all employees, and report future complaints of discrimination to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG).
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North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein filed four lawsuits against 14 manufacturers of Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF), a fire suppressant used widely by firefighters, members of the military, and other first responders. AFFF contains PFAS, or forever chemical compounds that are manmade, are toxic, persist in the environment, accumulate in people, and have serious health risks. Attorney General Stein is alleging that the manufacturers of AFFF and the PFAS used in its production, caused a public nuisance, created a design defect, failed to warn their customers, and fraudulently transferred corporate assets to shield their profits. Attorney General Stein is asking the court to require these manufacturers to pay for an investigation into how widespread the damage is, to clean it up, to replace water treatment systems and wells, to restore damaged natural resources, and to monitor water quality into the future.
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Although, the average residential customer will see a rate increase of 12.4 percent if the PSC approves the settlement, the approved increases are 30 percent less than what Columbia had initially requested and the office will have saved Kentuckians $8.095 million in proposed natural gas rate increases. In the agreement, Columbia also agrees not to seek additional base rate increases for three years.
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Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is taking legal action to ensure that consumers recover more than $7 million from the Florida-based online travel company BookIt Operating, LLC. According to an investigation, BookIt acted as an online third-party intermediary for airlines, car rentals, and hotels. The company allegedly failed to disclose to consumers that it did not have funds for current bookings in the absence of new incoming bookings, and thousands of consumers in Florida and nationwide were left with no trip and initially no money back. The company cooperated with the investigation and claims that the cancellation of all travel and failure to fully refund consumers was due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the proposed consent judgment, which is subject to court approval, an additional $448,000 must be paid by the defendant within 14 days of the entry of the judgment. The proposed judgment also bans the defendant from engaging in unfair and deceptive conduct related to selling travel. The defendant, BookIt Operating, LLC, is located in Panama City Beach and has agreed to the entry of this proposed consent judgment, which includes significant injunctive relief aimed at preventing future harm to consumers.
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The Grand Jury determined that Fornah, 35, a caregiver from Darby, Pa., used the stolen and false information of seven disabled clients in his care across Delaware and Montgomery Counties to apply for and receive a total of $89,418.82 in PUA benefits, thereby stealing thousands of dollars of funds earmarked to assist those individuals in the Commonwealth who are in truly need.
The Office of the Attorney General investigated this case with the assistance of the United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and the United States Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General.
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Based in Canada, Pong provided software to sweepstakes cafes throughout California. These cafes operate as mini-casinos, offering interactive gambling-themed games on computer gambling devices, which are predominantly marketed to vulnerable, low-income consumers. Despite a ruling by the California Supreme Court in 2015 expressly declaring that the use of sweepstakes gambling systems was unlawful, Pong, undeterred by previous law enforcement efforts, continued its unlawful gambling operations.
In securing today’s judgment, Attorney General Bonta is joined by the District Attorney’s Offices of Contra Costa, Fresno, Kern, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, Solano, Sonoma, and Tulare, as well as the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.
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Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, led a coalition of 19 states and the District of Columbia filed an amicus brief with the U.S District Court for the District of Oregon in a class action case entitled Hunter v US Department of Education. The brief supports a lawsuit brought on behalf of students opposing the U.S. Department of Education’s (DOE) implementation of religious exceptions from Title IX anti-discrimination laws, which were weakened under the previous administration. Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded schools and requires that schools act to prevent discrimination and harassment on campus.
When Congress enacted Title IX, it included a narrow exemption for schools controlled by religious institutions that have tenets incompatible with Title IX. Under their rule, any school that claims its mission statement is predicated on religious beliefs can claim an exemption from Title IX’s antidiscrimination requirements. Also last year, DOE eliminated the requirement for schools to claim this exemption in writing to the United States Department of Education—making it much easier and faster for schools to be granted the exemption. The amicus brief was led by Oregon Attorney General Rosenblum, and joined by the Attorneys General of California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vermont, and Washington.
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Petitioners in the lawsuit are former employees of Delphi, an auto-parts manufacturer, and supplier previously based in Michigan, and were participants in Delphi’s pension plan. After Delphi filed for bankruptcy, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) executed an agreement with the pension plan’s administrator to terminate the pension plan.
Many participants lost between 30% and 70% of their vested benefits. The affected participants, and petitioners, in this case, sued in district court, arguing that the pension plan termination was illegal. The district court and Sixth Circuit rejected their claims, resulting in this appeal to the United States Supreme Court. Nationally over 20,000 Delphi salaried retirees have been affected. Joining Yost and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel are the attorneys general of Delaware, Florida, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Vermont.
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In the Agreement, the State alleges Ameri-Kare and Ms. Ganaway; submitted claims for payment for TennCare members who were not present at the facility the day the services were allegedly provided, submitted claims for payment for TennCare services performed by a physician who was no longer employed by the facility and altered records to conceal wrongdoing.
Facilities like Ameri-Kare provide planned programs offered during the day in group settings for seniors and people with disabilities. These programs may include social activities and services to improve or maintain health. Some clients may receive counseling services for mental disabilities. Under the terms of the settlement, Ameri-Kare will pay the State $86,595.96.
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Missed our live programs? No problem! Follow the button below to visit our Virtual Seminar Library for access to all recordings.
Do you have a webinar topic suggestion? We want to hear from you! Please email ideas to Patricia Salazar at PSalazar@AGAlliance.org.
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CWAG Executive Committee
AG Alliance Co-Chairs
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Attorney General Alliance 5050 | Laguna Blvd., Ste. 112-323 | Elk Grove, CA 95758
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