Saint Paul, MINN.—Last week, a U.S. District Court once again ruled against the Department of Commerce and ordered it to pay $941,534.67 in attorney fees and costs to Safelite, Inc. This follows an earlier court ruling that the Department of Commerce violated the First Amendment rights of Safelite to the detriment of consumers. Moreover, the court found the department initiated a baseless investigation based on financially-motivated complaints from competitors, shared confidential information of an investigation, and engineered a strategy to harm Safelite by targeting companies with whom Safelite does business.
Rep. Kelly Fenton, R-Woodbury, Vice Chair of the Commerce and Regulatory Reform Committee, sent a letter to Governor Dayton earlier this year outlining serious concerns over abuse of power and an unconstitutional attack of Minnesota consumers and businesses by the Department of Commerce.
She released the following statement on the recent ruling ordering the Department of Commerce to pay attorney fees to Safelite:
On Commissioner Rothman’s watch, the Department of Commerce abused their power, bullied businesses and acted against the interest of Minnesota consumers. Now, taxpayers are on the hook for nearly $1 million because unelected bureaucrats believed they were above the law.
Where is the accountability? While I am pleased the courts put a stop to the Department of Commerce’s egregious actions, it is frustrating that hardworking Minnesota taxpayers will bear the burden of the Department’s misconduct and unethical behavior.
Both the recent court ruling and letter sent to Governor Dayton in February outlining concerns with Department of Commerce actions are attached.
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