A subsidiary of a major farm and ranch retail company agreed to pay over $5.1 million in civil penalties to resolve allegations of false advertising and selling pesticides without the proper licenses. Tractor Supply West, LLC, which is owned by Tractor Supply Company, agreed to the stipulated judgement in Sonoma County Superior Court on Wednesday. The company will pay the penalty to the counties of Sonoma, Santa Cruz, Sacramento, San Diego and San Bernardino, which all joined the suit.
The civil complaint alleged the company charged customers more than the lowest advertised price, sold pesticides without the necessary licenses from the Department of Pesticide Regulation, and mislabeled products as biodegradable. The district attorneys brought the complaint under the state’s Unfair Competition law. The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement that the company was cooperative with the investigation and stopped selling the pesticides until after it obtained the needed licenses. Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said the state’s unfair competition law was designed to make sure businesses did not try to avoid costs that all businesses had to incur to protect public health and the environment. “Businesses in California that fail to comply with all laws and regulations that have been enacted to protect consumers and the environment, cause injury to our citizens and our environment and also unfairly compete with businesses that incur the costs to comply with these laws,” she said. A statement from Santa Cruz County District Attorney Jeff Rosell similarly said the state’s laws around environmental labeling are meant to protect consumers by giving them accurate information.
The complaint alleged the practice of mislabeling products as environmentally friendly was a type of “greenwashing” that gives consumers wrong information about what they were buying. Tractor Supply West, LLC’s parent company Tractor Supply Company operates over 2,400 stores in 49 states that sell “rural lifestyle products” to “recreational farmers, ranchers, homeowners, gardeners, pet enthusiasts,” according to its website. The Tennessee-based company offers a range of products from animal care to industrial-type property management equipment but does not sell tractors. It says on its website it helps “customers find everything they need to maintain their farms, ranches, homes and animals.”
Ah yes, once again going after a large company, treating it as a deep pocket ATM.
Just another example of bureaucrats trying to shore up their overspending deficits.
Add this to long list of fleecing of deep pockets in CA, another example of why
opening or operating a business in California is a bad idea.
.
If Tractor Supply were a privately held company, held by me and I was a billionaire,
I’d close every California store, tomorrow. Because, they will only come back a
second, third and more times. Going after large box hardware stores for using
industry standard sizing of lumber in advertising. Got “them” a payday of multi
million dollar fines.
.
Thinking must be something like they’ve got billions invested in physical location
and equipment, they’ll never leave. We’ll be able to go back again and again.
U.S. Steel had enough of Co Co county, special districts staffed by unelected
unaccountable paper clip minions and State of California, coming back again and
again. They closed a VERY PROFITABLE steel plant that had been operating for
over 110 years.
.
Pittsburg works only steel plant West of the Mississippi producing tin plate product
for canning industry. Can producing plants laid off workers and you are pay more
for canned food products to feed your family.
Speaking of pesticide for years Lowes stocked its bird food next to its pesticides.
The most alarming product placement I saw in a local supermarket was packages of sewing needles, located next to the display of condoms!
Reminds me of song lyrics I read in National Lampoon many moons ago….
*
My cousin sells rubbers in high school
All poked full of holes with a pen
My Auntie performs the abortions
My God how the money rolls in!
Rolls in, rolls in, My God how the money rolls in!
And after all that, they’re still allowed to sell dangerous pesticides. So what was really accomplished? Nothing good for human health, that’s for sure…