Office of the Attorney General

From the Office of the DC Attorney General:

“Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today sued Raheem AI, a nonprofit created to improve transparency and accountability in policing, and its founder and Executive Director Brandon Anderson for violating the District’s nonprofit and workers’ rights laws. Anderson used Raheem AI’s charitable funds for his own personal benefit – specifically to support his luxurious lifestyle – while the organization failed to monitor spending or implement basic nonprofit governance requirements. Anderson and Raheem AI also failed to pay the organization’s sole District-based employee the wages she had earned and required her to sign an illegal non-compete clause. (more…)

From the Office of the DC Attorney General:

“Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced a lawsuit against TikTok, Inc. (TikTok) for causing mental and physical harms to District children through its platform intentionally designed to be addictive to kids. The lawsuit also alleges that TikTok deceives its users and their parents about the safety of its platform, and illegally operates a money transmission business, all in violation of District consumer protection laws. The filing by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) alleges that TikTok’s manipulative platform traps young users into cycles of excessive use that the company knows contribute to profound psychological and physiological harms, including body dysmorphia, sleep loss, depression, anxiety, and long-lasting neurological impacts. Despite this, TikTok misleads its users and their parents, falsely claiming that the app is safe for kids and that users have full control over their engagement, spending, and data. (more…)

photo by Rich Renomeron

From the office of the DC Attorney General:

“Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that home renovation company Curbio, Inc. (Curbio) will pay $7.5 million to harmed consumers and the District and will overhaul how it does business in the District and across the country, in order to resolve a 2023 consumer protection lawsuit brought by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG).

In its lawsuit, OAG alleged that Curbio (more…)

From the office of the DC Attorney General:

“Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that Swahili Village M Street, LLC (Swahili Village DC) and its owner, Kevin Onyona, must pay $526,973 to restaurant workers and DC to resolve a 2023 wage theft lawsuit. In its lawsuit, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) alleged that Swahili Village DC systematically stole wages and tips from its servers, hosts, food runners, bussers, and bartenders and violated multiple DC labor laws. Under the terms of this settlement, Swahili Village DC and Onyona must pay more than $260,000 to 72 restaurant workers, fund the process to distribute worker restitution, and pay penalties to the District. (more…)

photo by Jeff Vincent

From the Office of the Attorney General:

“Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that Michael J. Saylor and MicroStrategy, Inc., the company he co-founded and led, will pay $40 million to resolve a tax fraud lawsuit filed by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) alleging that Saylor had defrauded the District of over $25 million in income taxes. (more…)

From the office of the Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb:

“Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that, as a result of the effective and thorough advocacy of the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), the District of Columbia Board of Dentistry has revoked the license of dentist Mark McCLure and barred him from re-applying for licensure to practice dentistry in the District for at least five years. McClure committed repeated and egregious violations, including engaging in sexual contact with a patient and teaming up with another doctor to threaten and bully her out of reporting the matter. He also prescribed highly addictive medication to another patient and then abruptly cut her off, leading to medical complications – including a seizure – that required in-patient treatment for 45 days. Additionally, McClure treated other patients using pseudoscientific medical procedures outside the practice of dentistry, and then systematically hid and manipulated records to cover up his misbehavior. (more…)

photo by Jacques Arsenault

From the office of the DC Attorney General:

“Attorney General Karl A. Racine announced that Drizly, an alcohol delivery company, will be required to pay an estimated total of $6.46 million to resolve allegations that it failed to ensure delivery drivers received tips left by consumers and failed to pay required  taxes.

As part of a settlement agreement with the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), Drizly will pay nearly $2 million in restitution to workers who delivered goods ordered through their platform from 2019 through the present. Though Drizly did not divert customer tips to itself, it did not take steps to ensure that tips went to workers. (more…)