Bob Ferguson Archives

General

Washington AG: Cases Against Federal Government Will Continue

Ag Ferguson: Some Cases Against Federal Government Will Continue Despite President Biden Taking Officeprinter-friendly Version Attorney General’s Office has filed 97 lawsuits against the federal government since January of 2017 OLYMPIA, WA (STL.News) Attorney General Bob Ferguson today offered an update on his lawsuits against the federal government in the wake of President Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday. Washington was the first state to challenge President Trump in court. Beginning with his successful lawsuit challenging President Trump’s first travel ban filed just 10 days after Trump took office, Ferguson filed 97 cases against the federal government during President Trump’s term in office. To date, he scored 39 legal victories in those cases, including multiple victories...

Politics

Washington Governor Inslee & Ferguson’s joint statement on Trump’s Clean Power Plan rollbacks

Inslee, Ferguson issue joint statement regarding today’s oral argument on Trump’s Clean Power Plan rollbacks Olympia, WA (STL.News) Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson issued a statement on today’s oral arguments in Washington’s multistate lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s attempts to roll back the Clean Power Plan and replace it with the “Affordable Clean Energy” rule, which does not require significant carbon emission reductions. The Trump administration finalized this rule in July 2019. The oral arguments were heard today at 6:30 a.m. in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. “Washington state is fighting this disgraceful rule mere weeks after catastrophic smoke and fires, fueled by climate change, choked our lungs and burned entire...

Politics

Washington AG Ferguson sues debt collection agency for deceptive collection letters

Washington AG Ferguson sues debt collection agency for deceptive collection letters over old, legally unenforceable debts (STL.News) – Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a consumer protection lawsuit against the national debt collection corporation Convergent Outsourcing for pushing consumers into “settlements” to resolve old debts that were past the statute of limitations for a collection lawsuit. These “settlement” offers created a deceptive impression that Convergent could sue consumers when it could not, and implied Convergent was prepared to sue consumers if they did not pay. Convergent is a Renton-based collection agency with approximately 700 employees and $80 million in annual revenues. Convergent collected on accounts of major corporations around the country, including Verizon...

Politics

Judge Finds Tim Eyman in Contempt Over New Discovery Violations in Washington State AG’s Campaign Finance Lawsuit

Eyman has been in contempt on previous issues since February 2018 OLYMPIA, WA (STL.News) - A Thurston County Superior Court judge today found initiative promoter Tim Eyman in contempt a second time in Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s campaign finance lawsuit. Eyman and/or his company, Watchdog for Taxpayers, have been in contempt on separate discovery violations for 525 days, racking up sanctions of $211,750. Judge James Dixon found Eyman in contempt today because of Eyman’s refusal to disclose complete information related to hundreds of thousands of dollars of payments he solicited from individual donors, despite an order compelling him to provide the information. This information was originally due Jan. 24, 2019, and the special discovery master ordered him to produce the information b...

General

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson Statement Regarding ITT Technical Institute (ITT Tech)

OLYMPIA, WA (STL.News) - Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson yesterday announced that as a result of an investigation, Student CU Connect LLC (CUSO) will provide debt relief for 100 percent of its student loans for deceiving ITT Technical Institute students when it issued the loans. ITT Technical Institute (ITT Tech) was a for-profit college that abruptly closed all of its 149 campuses in September 2016, including campuses in Seattle, Everett and Spokane Valley. CUSO must provide a total of $5.1 million in student loan debt relief to 538 Washington borrowers who attended ITT Tech. The median amount of debt relief Washington borrowers will receive is $6,096. Nationally, CUSO will discharge $168.2 million in loans. CUSO issued loans to only ITT Tech students between 2009 and ...

Politics

Washington State Attorney General Ferguson statement on victory in Hanford Workers’ compensation case

OLYMPIA, WA (STL.News) - Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson offered the following statement on a U.S. District Court rejecting the federal government's challenge of Washington’s law making it easier for Hanford workers to access workers’ compensation benefits: “It was disappointing to see the federal government once again fighting against doing the right thing for the men and women of Hanford. The court appropriately rejected the Trump Administration’s attempt to undermine our state protections for Hanford workers. Hanford workers do incredibly important work cleaning up the federal government’s nuclear program. If they get sick as a result, they deserve the ability to access the benefits they have earned. “I thank my legal team for the hard work they put into this case, a...

General

Washington State AG Ferguson: Judge finds Comcast violated the Consumer Protection Act nearly half a million times

Represents the largest trial award in a consumer protection case ever brought by the Washington State Attorney General OLYMPIA, WA (STL.News) - A King County Superior Court judge yesterday ruled that multi-billion dollar telecommunications conglomerate Comcast violated the Consumer Protection Act more than 445,000 times when it charged tens of thousands of Washingtonians for its Service Protection Plan without their consent. Judge Timothy Bradshaw ordered Comcast to pay nearly $9.1 million in penalties, in addition to providing restitution to tens of thousands of Washington Service Protection Plan customers. “Comcast refused to accept responsibility for its egregious conduct that resulted in Washingtonians losing money every month for a product they did not want or request,” Ferguson sai...

Politics

Washington State Attorney General’s 22nd Legal Victory Against the Trump Administration

EPA will pay $6,000 for Ferguson’s attorney fees in lawsuit over FOIA request OLYMPIA, WA (STL.News) — As a result of Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s lawsuit, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has provided more than 1,700 pages of communications previously not made public between the EPA and advisory committee members in the wake of its 2017 policy barring scientists who receive grants from the agency from serving on the committees. In addition to providing the documents, the EPA must pay $6,000 in attorney costs and fees to the Washington Attorney General’s Office to resolve the case. In May of 2018, Ferguson filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington after the EPA failed to respond to his Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The F...