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PUBLIC LANDS
CWAG Associate Attorney General Greg Abbott of Texas urged the Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to drop its claims to private property along the Red River. The letter seeks specific answers about the exact property the BLM now claims belongs to the federal government, asks the BLM to further explain the legal basis for its claim to private property, and highlights the economic harm that the BLM's actions are imposing on Texas landowners. This is the second letter General Abbott has written to the BLM seeking this information. General Abbott stated in his letter, "Given the BLM's apparent commitment to pursuing the current course of simply claiming private land as its own-while in the meantime clouding the title of private property along the Red River-I must reiterate two questions that I first posed in my April 22 letter, but that still have not been adequately answered: (1) what land does the BLM now claim belongs to the federal government; and (2) what is the legal basis for that claim?"
PUBLIC FINANCES
CWAG Attorney General Bob Ferguson of Washington announced that the Washington Supreme Court ruled unanimously for the state in two important pension cases. The cases dealt with two pension enhancements enacted by the Legislature in the mid-1990's. In enacting both, the Legislature said that the enhancements could be terminated at any time. When the Legislature terminated both enhancements due to fiscal constraints and the recession, state employee unions and public employees sued, claiming a permanent right to receive these enhancements under Washington case law. General Ferguson stated: "These were difficult cases that had gone on for years, and the trial courts in both cases had ruled against the state. Through the hard work of our excellent team, we were able to demonstrate to the Supreme Court that those rulings were incorrect. Public employees work hard and deserve the pension benefits they have earned. Today's decisions preserve the rights of public employees to receive the basic pension benefits the Legislature has promised, but make clear that the Legislature has the flexibility to add temporary benefits without being locked into providing them forever."
CONSUMER PROTECTION
CWAG Attorney General Lawrence Wasden of Idaho reached agreements with three business owners accused of misrepresenting themselves to consumers by failing to deliver services sold to dozens of Idahoans. Under terms of the deals, each of the business owners has agreed to cease operations in the state. "The activities of these three Treasure Valley business owners represent the variety of consumer protection issues my office handles every single day," General Wasden said. Complaints filed against Geo Marketing allege it misrepresented the amount of savings promised to customers who bought his security, satellite television systems and Internet services. In the second case, customers complained they paid to reserve space as vendors at events Idaho Promotions Group sponsored, but later discovered misrepresentations regarding the terms and conditions of those events, including venues, dates and facilities. In the third case, Canyon College of Idaho was allowed to teach at the certificate course completion level, but not authorized to award degrees to students or teach courses for college credit. Former students alleged they purchased degrees and college credit that were not accepted by accredited universities or employers.
A judge has barred a veteran's charity from soliciting in Massachusetts following a lawsuit filed by the CWAG Associate Attorney General Martha Coakley of Massachusetts. The lawsuit alleges that the charity used deceptive practices while soliciting funds in Massachusetts. "There are many generous people in Massachusetts who donate money to assist veterans in their communities," General Coakley said. "We allege that this charity violated the public's trust and disadvantaged veterans by falsely claiming that donations would assist Massachusetts veterans. Donors should be able to trust that their dollars are going to the programs, communities, and people they intended them to." The complaint alleges that Focus on Veterans misled potential donors by falsely representing that their donations would be used to assist Massachusetts veterans in various ways, including providing housing and transportation assistance.
CWAG Associate Attorney General Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia is warning consumers about a data breach reported by Community Health Systems Inc., the parent company of four hospitals in southern West Virginia. The company believes the breach, which originated in China, occurred in April and June 2014. The breaches resulted in the theft of personal information including patient names, addresses, birth dates, telephone numbers and Social Security numbers of people who received treatment from doctors affiliated with the hospital group, or who were referred for services to the group, within the past five years. "This announcement by Community Health Systems today can be unsettling for many of the people who received care at these hospitals," General Morrisey said. "Our Office will work to help protect those who may have their information compromised."
CWAG Associate Attorney General Buddy Caldwell of Louisiana filed a lawsuit against State Farm Insurance alleging the nationwide insurer has engaged in a pattern of unfair and fraudulent business practices aimed at controlling the auto repair industry and forcing unsafe repairs on vehicles without the knowledge or consent of Louisiana consumers. The suit alleges State Farm violated Louisiana's Unfair Trade Practices Act and Monopolies Law by using scare tactics to steer Louisiana consumers to State Farm's preferred repair shops and forcing shops to perform vehicle repairs cheaply and quickly, rather than in accordance with consumer safety and vehicle manufacturer performance standards. General Caldwell said, "State Farm has created a culture of unsafe business practices in which consumer vehicle repairs are performed with cost-savings as the primary goal rather than safety and reliability. In some cases, we've found that these parts are nothing more than used junk yard parts. In others, we've found them to be foreign knock-off parts of questionable quality."
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