Every year the FTC brings hundreds of cases against individuals and companies for violating consumer protection and competition laws that the agency enforces. These cases can involve fraud, scams, identity theft, false advertising, privacy violations, anti-competitive behavior and more. The Legal Library has detailed information about cases we have brought in federal court or through our internal administrative process, called an adjudicative proceeding.
Debt Solutions, Inc., also d/b/a DSI Financial, Inc.; et al.
FMFG, Inc. also d/b/a American Adjustable Beds, Tranquility Adjustable Beds, and California Sleep Research., U.S.
Actavis Group hf. and Abrika Pharmaceuticals, Inc., In the Matter of
Dondero, James D. c/o Highland Capital Management, LP, United States of America (for the FTC)
In 2007, the Commission requested that the Department of Justice file a complaint seeking civil penalties against James D. Dondero for violating the filing requirements of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Pre-Merger Notification Act. A stipulation and proposed final judgment was also filed requiring Dondero, parent of Highland Capital Management, L.P., a hedge fund, to pay $250,000 to settle the charges. According to the Commission, Highland failed to file the appropriate premerger documents in 2003 when it acquired shares of Neighborcare, Inc, then known as Genesis Health Ventures, bringing its holdings above the $50 million filing threshold. Upon realizing the error, a corrective filing was made, and Highland outlined steps to avoid future violations. However, in 2005, Highland reported another such violation involving shares of Motient Corporation.
Netfran Development Corp. d/b/a Netspace, et al.
Darden Restaurants, Inc., GMRI Inc., and Darden GC Corp., In the Matter of
Lockheed Martin Corporation, The Boeing Company, and United Launch Alliance, LLC., In the Matter of
The Commission intervened in the formation of United Launch Alliance (ULA), a proposed joint venture between the Boeing Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. The FTC’s complaint alleged that the formation of ULA as originally structured would have reduced competition in the markets for U.S. government medium to heavy launch services and space vehicles. In settling the Commissions’ charges, the parties agreed to take certain actions (such as nondiscrimination requirements and firewalls) to address ancillary competitive harms not inextricably tied to the national security benefits of ULA.
Sunny Health Nutrition Technology & Products, Inc. and Sunny Si
Guidance Software, Inc., In the Matter of
Thermo Electron Corporation, In the Matter of
The consent order settled charges that Thermo Electron Corporation’s proposed $12.8 billion acquisition of Fisher Scientific International, Inc. would harm competition in the U.S. market for high-performance centrifugal vacuum evaporators (CVEs). Thermo and Fisher are the only two significant suppliers of high-performance CVEs in the United States and the proposed transaction would eliminate the direct price, service, and innovation competition that exists between them. To settle the Commission’s charges, Thermo is required to divest Fisher’s Genevac division, which includes Fisher’s entire CVE business, within five months of the date the consent agreement was signed.