2019 Press Releases

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• 6/13/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS 43 STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL IN ANNOUNCING $168 MILLION IN DEBT RELIEF FOR 22,000 FORMER ITT TECH STUDENTS

  Attorney General William Tong joined 43 state attorneys general in announcing an agreement to obtain $168 million in debt relief for 18,664 former ITT students nationwide. Two Connecticut students are covered in the settlement and will receive a combined $31,757.70 in debt relief.

• 6/13/2019 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.

• 6/11/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS AMICUS BRIEF OPPOSING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S REQUEST FOR EMERGENCY STAY OF PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION IN SIERRA CLUB V. TRUMP

  Attorney General William Tong, as part of a 20 state coalition, filed an amicus brief before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of Sierra Club, et al. v. Trump, et al., a case challenging President Trump’s unlawful diversion of funds toward construction of a border wall. The ACLU represents the Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition in the lawsuit. The brief urges the court to deny the federal government’s emergency motion for a stay of the preliminary injunction granted by the district court in Sierra Club’s case, blocking President Trump from commencing border wall construction in New Mexico and Arizona with funds that were unlawfully diverted. The federal government has now appealed that ruling.

• 6/10/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS MULTI-STATE COALITION TO BLOCK T-MOBILE AND SPRINT MEGAMERGER

  (Hartford, CT) – Connecticut Attorney General William Tong joined 9 states today in filing a multi-state lawsuit to halt the proposed merger of telecom giants T-Mobile and Sprint. The complaint, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, was filed in New York federal court in coordination with Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C., alleges that the merger of two of the four largest national mobile network operators would deprive consumers of the benefits of competition and drive up prices for cellphone services.

• 6/6/2019 CONNECTICUT AND ILLINOIS OPEN INVESTIGATION INTO QUEST DIAGNOSTICS, LABCORP DATA BREACH

  Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced today they have opened an investigation into the data breach at American Medical Collection Agency, which may have exposed the personal information of nearly 12 million patients of Quest Diagnostics and 7.7 million Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp) patients.

• 6/6/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG AND 44 STATE COALITION MOVE TO UNSEAL GENERIC DRUG PRICE FIXING COMPLAINT

• 6/5/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG, 44-STATE COALITION MOVE TO UNSEAL GENERIC DRUG PRICE FIXING COMPLAINT

  (Hartford, CT) – Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and 43 other state attorneys general moved today to unseal their complaint against Teva Pharmaceuticals and 19 of the nation's largest generic drug manufacturers. The complaint, filed on May 10 in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, alleges a broad conspiracy to artificially inflate and manipulate prices, reduce competition and unreasonably restrain trade for more than 100 different drugs.

• 6/3/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG: LONG ISLAND SOUND DREDGING CHALLENGE LACKS MERIT

  (Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong has filed a memorandum of law in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York describing the exhaustive administrative record, economic need, and environmental safeguards that clearly support the lawful selection of the Eastern Long Island Sound Disposal Site for dredged materials.

• 5/30/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG STATEMENT ON DOJ SETTLEMENT WITH HERITAGE PHARMACEUTICALS OVER GENERIC DRUG PRICE FIXING

  Attorney General William Tong issued the following statement today regarding news that Heritage Pharmaceuticals has entered into a $7 million criminal and civil settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding price fixing of generic drugs.

• 5/30/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG STATEMENT ON DEFERRED ACTION FOR SUJITNO SAJUTI

  Attorney General William Tong issued the following statement regarding Sujitno Sajuti, who will leave sanctuary today after being granted deferred action and relief from deportation.

• 5/29/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS COALITION OF 15 AGS IN BRIEF TO PROTECT CRITICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT FUNDING FROM TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S UNCONSTITUTIONAL OVERREACH

  Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 15 states led by New York Attorney General Letitia James in filing an amicus brief to protect states and localities from the Trump Administration's efforts to punish so-called “sanctuary” jurisdictions by putting immigration-related conditions on federal funding for law enforcement efforts. The administration has continuously attempted to punish these jurisdictions by putting these unlawful conditions on the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program (Byrne-JAG), a federal law enforcement grant allocated to States and localities.

• 5/23/2019 AG TONG JOINS COALITION CALLING FOR AUTOMATIC DISCHARGES OF STUDENT LOANS FOR TOTALLY AND PERMANENTLY DISABLED VETERANS

  Attorney General William Tong today joined a group of 52 state attorneys general in urging the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) to automatically forgive the student loans of veterans who became totally and permanently disabled in connection with their military service.

• 5/23/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS MULTISTATE COALITION TO OPPOSE FEDERAL ROLLBACK OF OVERTIME PROTECTIONS

  Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 15 state attorneys general in urging the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) not to adopt its proposal which reverses federal overtime protections for workers.

• 5/21/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG CONTINUES FIGHT TO PROTECT THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT, JOINS COALITION OF 21 ATTORNEYS GENERAL CHALLENGING BASELESS ATTACKS ON AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

  Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition 20 states and the District of Columbia led by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra in filing a response in Texas v. U.S., defending the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the healthcare of tens of millions of Americans. Today’s brief, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, argues that every provision of the ACA remains valid. It further argues that the position taken by the Trump Administration and the Texas-led coalition is legally incorrect and dangerous to our healthcare system.

• 5/21/2019 AG AND DCP URGE CONSUMERS TO USE DRESSBARN GIFT CARDS BEFORE RETAIL OUTLET CLOSES ITS STORES

  Attorney General William Tong and Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull today advised Connecticut consumers to use any unused gift cards and to make any necessary returns to Dressbarn before the women's clothing chain closes its stores.