2019 Press Releases

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• 3/20/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF LAWSUIT BY OAKLAND AND SAN FRANCISCO COMMUNITIES TO HOLD BIG OIL ACCOUNTABLE FOR COSTS OF SEA-LEVEL RISE

  ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF LAWSUIT BY OAKLAND AND SAN FRANCISCO COMMUNITIES TO HOLD BIG OIL ACCOUNTABLE FOR COSTS OF SEA-LEVEL RISE

• 3/1/2019 CONSUMERS ENCOURAGED TO PARTICIPATE IN NATIONAL CONSUMER PROTECTION WEEK

  National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW) is held each year in the first full week of March (this year, March 3 – 9). The Department of Consumer Protection (DCP), the Office of the Attorney General, and Better Business Bureau Serving Connecticut are encouraging consumers to participate.

• 5/9/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS 42 ATTORNEYS GENERAL IN SUPPORT OF FEDERAL RULES TO BETTER COMBAT ROBOCALLS

  After 47.8 billion robocalls were made in the U.S. in 2018, Attorney General William Tong joined a bipartisan coalition of 42 attorneys general in a comment letter supporting the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) proposed rules to improve and expand the prohibition on "caller ID" spoofing."

• 5/14/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS MULTISTATE LAWSUIT DEFENDING MEDICAID HOMECARE WORKERS

  Attorney General William Tong today joined a multistate lawsuit led by California, to oppose the Trump Administration’s final rule that undermines Connecticut's 4,300 direct homecare workers who provide services to 15,000 Medicaid recipients each month through the state's Medicaid personal care services program.

• 3/26/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS COALITION OF 21 ATTORNEYS GENERAL IN BRIEF DEFENDING ACA IN TEXAS V. US

  Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general, led by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, in filing an opening brief in Texas v. U.S., defending the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the healthcare of tens of millions of Americans. The brief, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, argues that every provision of the ACA remains valid. It also details the harm that declaring the ACA invalid would have on the tens of millions of people who rely on it for access to high-quality, affordable healthcare, as well as the broader damage that it would do to the nation’s healthcare system.

• 10/17/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG URGES CFPB TO ABANDON PROPOSED RULES THAT PROMOTE DISCRIMINATION IN MORTGAGE LENDING

  Attorney General William Tong submitted a comment letter urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) not to adopt new rules, which would undermine the ability to enforce fair lending laws and prevent discrimination against communities of color in the mortgage lending market.

• 12/13/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG AND DSS COMMISSIONER GIFFORD ANNOUNCE COURT DECISION REQUIRING FAIRFIELD DENTIST TO PAY $1.7 MILLION FOR VIOLATING STATE'S FALSE CLAIMS ACT

  Attorney General William Tong and state Department of Social Services Commissioner Deidre S. Gifford today announced a Superior Court decision requiring Dr. Aram Agadjanian, also known as Aram Yuri Agadzanov, to pay more than $1.7 million for engaging in a long-term, pervasive scheme to defraud the state's Medicaid program.

• 3/18/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG ANNOUNCES INVESTIGATION INTO HYUNDAI AND KIA FIRES

  Attorney General William Tong today announced that Connecticut is one of the leaders of an ongoing multistate investigation into both Hyundai and Kia for potential Unfair and Deceptive Acts or Practices related to spontaneous vehicle fires.

• 7/3/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG FILES SUPREME COURT BRIEF TO PROTECT LGBTQ+ EMPLOYEES FROM DISCRIMINATION

  (Hartford, CT) — On the heels of Pride Month and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots that began the modern gay rights movement, Attorney General William Tong joined Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, New York Attorney General Letitia James and 19 other attorneys general in filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that federal anti-discrimination laws protect LGBTQ+ employees. The coalition will be filing the brief in three cases pending before the court that involve workers being fired based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

• 7/10/2019 AG TONG, COMMISSIONERS SAADI AND SEAGULL, AND CONNECTICUT NATIONAL GUARD CAUTION CONSUMERS AGAINST MILITARY IMPOSTER AND AFFILIATION SCAMS

  Attorney General William Tong, Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Thomas Saadi, Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull, and Major General Francis J. Evon Jr., Adjutant General of the Connecticut National Guard, today marked Military Consumer Month by urging residents to remain vigilant against military imposter and affiliation scams.

• 10/16/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS 18-STATE COALITION DEFENDING VERMONT’S RIGHT TO BAN LARGE-CAPACITY MAGAZINES TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE

  Attorney General William Tong joined a group of 18 state Attorneys General in defending Vermont’s right to ban large-capacity magazines and protect public safety. In a friend-of-the-court brief filed in the Vermont Supreme Court, Attorney General Tong and his counterparts argue that states have the right to enact reasonable firearm restrictions that reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by gun violence.

• 6/14/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG SHOWS POTENTIAL FOR GRAVE HARM TO CONNECTICUT, JOINS STATES IN SEEKING PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AGAINST THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO STOP HEALTH CARE DISCRIMINATION

  Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 23 cities, states, and municipalities, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, in a motion filed today to seek a preliminary injunction to stop the Trump Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from adopting a Final Rule that would expand the ability of businesses and individuals to refuse to provide necessary health care on the basis of businesses' or employees’ “religious beliefs or moral convictions.” The motion is supported by declarations from 48 leading public health professionals from states across the country. The same coalition of 23 cities and states, filed a lawsuit against HHS in May 2019 to challenge this discriminatory rule.

• 11/14/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG CALLS ON THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO CANCEL LOANS FOR FORMER ITT TECH STUDENTS

  Attorney General William Tong today joined a multistate effort calling on the U.S. Department of Education to immediately forgive the loans of former ITT Tech students who attended the bankrupt for-profit school when it closed.

• 7/26/2019 AG TONG: T-MOBILE/SPRINT MEGAMERGER REMAINS A BAD DEAL FOR CONSUMERS, INNOVATION, AND WORKERS

  Attorney General William Tong and a coalition of 13 additional attorneys general from across the nation today expressed concern about a newly announced deal — approved, in principle, by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) — supporting the proposed megamerger between telecommunications giants T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corporation.

• 4/10/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG CAUTIONS CONSUMERS AGAINST SAFE HOME SECURITY INC.'S BUSINESS PRACTICES

  After the Office of the Attorney General filed a motion for contempt alleging Safe Home Security Inc. violated the terms of its 2014 settlement, Attorney General William Tong is warning consumers to remain vigilant against the company's business practices.