Press Releases
09/24/2020
AG Tong Files brief in Support of States' Authority to Regulate Price Gouging
(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong joined a bipartisan coalition of 31 states led by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit to support states’ authority to enforce price gouging regulations to protect consumers during emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
The coalition is urging the appellate court to overturn the district court’s decision in Online Merchants Guild v. Cameron. The court entered a preliminary injunction preventing Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron from enforcing price gouging regulations against retailers selling products on Amazon. In the brief, the coalition states that national and local emergencies, such as the pandemic, create significant shortages for essential items. State price gouging laws are essential to ensuring that goods can be fairly allocated among residents, and to preventing bad actors from profiting by charging excessively high prices for goods that are scarce.
“Price gouging during a public health emergency isn’t just wrong, it’s against the law,” Attorney General Tong said. “Our price gouging laws protect Connecticut residents during these uncertain and unprecedented times. As shoppers turn to buying products online to avoid the risk of grocery stores and malls, we need to be able to hold online retailers who are taking advantage of consumers accountable. Anyone who suspects profiteering should submit a detailed complaint to my office for investigation.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many states have implemented social distancing measures in public places and recommended that residents stay home when possible. As a result, more consumers have turned to online sellers to purchase food, medicine, cleaning supplies and other household essentials. The Online Merchants Guild, claiming that price gouging laws should not be applied to retailers selling goods on Amazon, filed a lawsuit after the Kentucky Attorney General’s office began investigating several Kentucky-based retailers.
The coalition emphasizes that price gouging laws level the playing field and ensure a more equitable distribution of goods to high- and low-income consumers. The attorneys general state that price gouging protections have been particularly necessary during the pandemic, which has caused financial instability for millions of Americans and created and threatened shortages of essential goods. Furthermore, regulating price gouging falls under states’ responsibility to aid vulnerable consumers during an emergency. Additionally, price gouging laws do not directly control the price of goods for out-of-state sales or create an actual conflict among state regulations.
States have taken action that has been crucial to curbing price gouging during the pandemic, including working toward voluntary compliance, issuing subpoenas, sending cease and desist letters, and filing civil actions. The Office of the Attorney General had received over 750 COVID-related price gouging complaints. Every complaint was reviewed, and several remain under active investigation.
Joining Attorneys General Raoul and Tong in filing the amicus brief are the attorneys general of Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Anyone who suspects price gouging should file a complaint with the Office of the Attorney General online at https://www.dir.ct.gov/ag/complaint/. Consumers are encouraged to file their complaints online and provide detailed information about the company, retail store or online vendor where the suspected instance of price gouging occurred. In the complaint, consumers should list the name and address of the retailer, the date and time of the instance, and also submit any pictures that show the suspected price hike.
If consumers are unable to file a complaint online or via email, they can call the Office of the Attorney General at 860-808-5318.
A copy of the brief can be found here.
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Media Contact:
Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov
Consumer Inquiries:
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