California Leads the Country in Local Prosecution of Business Misconduct

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Dec 10, 2019, 10:39 ET

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A new compilation of business-misconduct lawsuits filed by local prosecutors in the nation's largest cities and counties finds that California accounts for far more cases than any other state. Since the beginning of 2000, local California prosecutors have brought 441 successful suits against corporations, representing more than three-quarters of all such cases in the 50 biggest cities and counties of the United States as a whole.

The case information was assembled by the Corporate Research Project of Good Jobs First as part of the latest expansion of Violation Tracker, the first wide-ranging database of corporate crime and misconduct. Violation Tracker is free to use at violationtracker.org.

"In most of the country, local prosecutors focus on homicides and other forms of street crime," said Good Jobs First research director Philip Mattera, who leads the work on Violation Tracker. "California district attorneys and city attorneys supplement those kinds of prosecutions with cases involving fraud against consumers, pollution, wage theft and other corporate offenses."

California is also unusual in that its localities frequently band together to bring cases against large companies. "We found 191 of these group lawsuits that resulted in more than $1.8 billion in fines and settlements," Mattera noted.

The ability of California counties and large cities to pursue cases against corporations is strengthened by the state's Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law, which prohibit many forms of predatory business conduct.

Although California's local prosecutors have a commanding lead in the number of corporate cases, New York's have collected the most penalty dollars. The Empire State's $3.5 billion total (compared to $2.3 billion in California) is due mostly to a dozen large cases brought against major foreign banks by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office for violations of international economic sanctions.

New York local prosecutors have brought 88 business misconduct cases that resulted in fines or settlements. The only other state in double digits is Texas, with 12 cases generating $12 million in penalties. Altogether, the 50 largest counties and 50 largest cities accounted for 565 cases and $5.9 billion in penalties.

Good Jobs First, based in Washington, DC, is a non-profit, non-partisan resource center promoting accountability in economic development. Its Corporate Research Project provides research resources for organizations and individuals concerned about all forms of corporate accountability.

Contact: Philip Mattera (202) 725-7906; [email protected]

SOURCE Good Jobs First