“As a practical matter, petitioners’ position would deprive the commission of compensatory relief when a contemnor harms consumers by violating an injunction previously entered under Section 13(b),” the agency wrote. “It is thus at odds with the very purpose of contempt, which empowers a court ‘to enforce its judgments and orders necessary to the due administration of law and the protection of the rights of suitors.'”
Neither the FTC nor Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals immediately responded to Law360’s requests for comment.
Hi-Tech and Wheat are represented by Robert F. Parsley and Meredith C. Lee of Miller & Martin PLLC.
The FTC is represented by Elizabeth B. Prelogar of the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as in-house by Anisha S. Dasgupta, Mariel Goetz, and Bradley Grossman.
The case is Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals Inc. et al., Petitioners v. Federal Trade Commission et al., case number 23-704, in the U.S. Supreme Court.
