State AG News: Energy, Consumer Protection, Social Media

Each week, Crowell & Moring's State Attorneys General team highlights significant actions that State AGs have taken. See our State Attorneys General page for more insights. Below are the updates from October 2-8, 2025:

Multistate

• A multistate coalition of 21 attorneys general filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent the imposition of a new immigration-related condition limiting the plaintiff states' access to federal grant programs for victim services and criminal justice. The same coalition of attorneys general previously filed another lawsuit in August seeking relief from similar conditions on Victims of Crime Act grant programs, and recently announced that the DOJ has dropped these conditions seemingly as a result of that legal pressure.
• A multistate coalition of 23 attorneys general filed an amicus brief in Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, et al., v. Michael Howe, Secretary of State of North Dakota, a lawsuit challenging the alleged dilution of Native Americans' votes under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The brief argues that private enforcement of the VRA is necessary to preserve fundamental rights, and that the Eighth Circuit misapplied the law by departing from established Supreme Court precedent.
• A multistate coalition of 5 attorneys general, in collaboration with the Federal Trade Commission, filed a lawsuit against Zillow and Redfin for allegedly entering an anticompetitive agreement to increase rental prices. The complaint alleges that Zillow paid Redfin $100 million to stop selling multifamily advertising, terminate its existing multifamily advertising contracts, and transition their multifamily advertising customers to Zillow. The attorneys general argue that this violates Section 1 of the Sherman Act and Section 7 of the Clayton Act, and seek declaratory and injunctive relief to undo and prevent anticompetitive harms stemming from this conduct.
• Eight attorneys general authored an op-ed urging colleges and universities to pursue diverse student bodies by using race-neutral tools, and critiquing recent guidance from the U.S. Attorney General as well as the College Board's cancellation of Landscape, a program that provided admissions officers with data on the high schools and neighborhoods of applicants. The op-ed argues that schools must look beyond test scores and GPAs "to identify high-achieving students from disadvantaged communities."

California

• Attorney General Rob Bonta won a $10 million judgment against Care Specialist HCS Inc., an in-home care company, for allegedly violating California's labor laws and Unfair Competition Law by misclassifying employees as independent contractors. In addition to this monetary penalty, the order also permanently enjoins the company from continuing to misclassify its employees.

District of Columbia

• Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb secured a $166,011 settlement from Unique On the Go Corporation, a car rental and car detailing management company, for allegedly underpaying employees and falsely classifying employees as independent contractors. In addition to paying $111,008 to eligible workers and $55,003 to the District, Unique On the Go Corporation must properly classify its employees and, for a one-year period, submit quarterly reports on its independent contractors.

Kentucky

• Attorney General Russell Coleman filed a lawsuit against Roblox Corporation and Roblox Prepaid Company, LLC ("Roblox") regarding Roblox's interactive gaming platform of the same name. The complaint alleges that Roblox deliberately failed to implement basic safety controls to protect child users despite actively marketing the game to children, thereby allowing child predators to exploit the interactive chat functions of the game to prey on children. The lawsuit seeks civil penalties under the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act and disgorgement of proceeds for unjust enrichment, in addition to bringing negligence charges and seeking permanent injunctive relief.

Louisiana

• Attorney General Liz Murrill sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney General requesting that the Department of Justice (DOJ) dismiss lawsuits filed against Louisiana companies by the Biden Administration under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. The letter cites to the Executive Order "Unleashing American Energy" as support, and argues that the lawsuits are contrary to well-settled insurance law.

New Jersey

• Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin recently launched an investigation into Uber Inc. for allegedly misrepresenting the safety features of its ridesharing application, potentially in violation of New Jersey's consumer protection laws. Attorney General Platkin has not yet issued a formal press release, but the New York Times stated that this investigation stems from its August 6, 2025 report on a pervasive pattern of sexual violence on Uber Rides.

New York

• Attorney General Letitia James secured a settlement against Parkchester Preservation Management, LLC (Parkchester), a Bronx-based landlord that allegedly denied housing to prospective tenants based on court records of prior landlord-tenant disputes in violation of the Real Property Law §227-f of the New York Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act. The settlement enjoins Parkchester from continuing to violate that law, and requires that Parkchester make certain changes to its tenant application process and reconsider the applications of previously denied prospective tenants if they re-apply.
• Attorney General James announced that as of October 1, 2025, social media companies must report their content moderation policies in accordance with the Stop Hiding Hate Act. In addition to imposing certain public transparency requirements for users, the new law requires that social media companies submit biannual reports on the total number of posts flagged as potential policy violations, the total number of posts on which the company took action, and details on what action was taken to remove, demonetize, or deprioritize that content.