How You Could Get Sued by the Government – And What to Do About It

If you have a business, you probably spend a lot of time and money worrying about and trying to avoid getting sued, whether by customers, employees, contractors or other businesses. But one thing that many businesses forget about is the government. Government agencies can, and do, come after businesses, for a number of reasons.

Private Rights of Action

Although we tend to worry about people or other, non-governmental agencies suing us, the reality is that for many laws there is no private right of action—the legal term for having the right to sue. That’s purposely done—lawmakers don’t want people suing businesses left and right for every type of rule or regulation that the government passes.

But for many federal and state laws, although there may be no private right of action, the government can still sue your business, and sometimes, come after your business for a lot of money, if you violate these federal or state laws or regulations.

One example is the CAN-SPAM act, a law that sets laws on junk and spam email. Although a person can’t sue a business for sending SPAM email, or for not allowing customers to opt out of emails, the government certainly can. That’s just one of a whole web of rules and laws that the government, but not private individuals, can sue for.

What if the Government Comes After You?

If the government does have a complaint against you, or is looking to sue you, it may be handled in a number of different ways, depending on what law, and what government agency, may be involved.

As a general rule however, most government agencies will reach out to you, either informally, or via a demand letter, before just filing a full blown lawsuit against you

During this initial period, there is often a time to resolve the matter. Whether it can be resolved via payment of money, or in a non-monetary way (for example, fixing safety violations in the face of an OSHA complaint, or refunding a customer who feels cheated), most government agencies will try to work things out with you to avoid a lawsuit.

Sometimes, the government will give an upset consumer the chance to negotiate with your business directly—the government just acts as a conduit, or a platform, allowing business and customers to resolve a grievance.

DIrect Lawsuits

There are times when the government will just jump into a lawsuit. That’s usually where the government feels you have engaged in fraudulent behavior, if the wrongful behavior is ongoing, or if there are a lot of consumers that the government feels have been hurt or neglected or deceived.

Defending Against the Government

Just because you are being sued by the government gives them no advantage.

Governments often do sue, and lose. Although the government usually does its due diligence before just suing, and thus, often has grounds for whatever it is suing for, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t defenses to a government lawsuit, or that you can’t force the government into a settlement that works for you.

Don’t fight the government alone. Let us help you. Call our Fort Lauderdale business lawyers at Sweeney Law P.A. at 954-440-3993 for help today.

Sources:

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0500-0599/0501/0501PARTIIContentsIndex.html

oppaga.fl.gov/ProgramSummary/ProgramDetail?programNumber=1026