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The State of Alaska filed a lawsuit against Anchorage resident Juan Lyle Aune for allegedly purchasing thousands of COVID-19 masks and selling them for a profit.
According to the state, this was an unlawful attempt to profit from the COVID-19 outbreak.
Allegedly, Aune conducts business under the name Spazzylab, although he does not have a business license. The coronavirus lawsuit says his company is a sole proprietorship. Aune reportedly sells online, on Amazon and eBay.
Alaska claims that he engaged in a COVID-19 price gouging scheme beginning in February 2020, in which he purchased thousands of respirators from retailers throughout the state, and then resold them on Amazon and eBay at a huge markup.
The unfair respirator prices lawsuit claims that Aune purchased the respirators from a range of stores, including Lowe’s, Home Depot and Spenard Builders Supply. Allegedly, he purchased N95 respirator masks in packs of 20 for between $17 and $23 per pack, and would make a profit of around $50 from each pack.
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Providing just one instance of this conduct, the State of Alaska says that on Feb. 25, 2020, Aune went into a Lowe’s store in Anchorage and requested to buy all of the N95 respirators.
He reportedly purchased 293 packs of 20 N95 respirators, paying $21.98 per pack. The state alleges that while at Lowe’s, he admitted to an employee that he was “flipping” the mask for profit, and said that he could make around $50 in profit from each pack.
The state asserts that Aune sold multiple kinds of respirators on his online store, including 3M 8210 Particulate Respirators, also known as 3M N95 respirators. Allegedly, he sold 477 packs of 20 3M N95 respirators between Feb. 10, 2020 and March 16, 2020. According to the state, Aune sold these COVID-19 mask packs at the steep price of $89.25.
Stressing that this price was well above average, the mask price gouging lawsuit cites Amazon’s average price for the banks between Dec. 19, 2019 to Jan. 19, 2020 at around $16.
In addition to the N95 masks, the state explains that Aune also sold multiple respirators on eBay, and continually raised the mask prices. Allegedly, he was selling the N95 20-packs for $59.99 per pack on Feb. 22, 2020, but by Feb. 29, 2020 was selling them for $89.99.
The COVID-19 mask price lawsuit asserts that Aune’s price gouging scheme took advantage of the public’s desperation and need to protect themselves during the COVID-19 crisis.
The state calls this conduct “unethical, immoral, and unscrupulous,” and argues that the practice “offends public policy,” and “violates fundamental concepts of fairness.”
The COVID-19 lawsuit goes on to say that Aune’s conduct has created a shortage of respirators in local stores, harming both the customers who are unable to purchase respirators, as well as those who paid far too much to buy the respirators.
The N95 mask hoarding lawsuit argues that Aune violated the Unfair Trade Practices Act, going so far as to say that each unfair sale made by Aune, and each online post or advertisement published in an effort to make unfair sales, represents a separate violation of the UTPA.
The respirator price lawsuit asks the court to charge Aune separate fines for each violation of the act, of costs between $1,000 and $25,000.
Alaska then asks the court to require Aune to return any money or property from his unlawful concept to those affected, asserting that Aune has not yet taken such steps.
The lawsuits has made headlines throughout Alaska. Alaska Public Media explains that a bill was recently passed by state legislature that would make it illegal to mark up prices more than 10 percent. When the state filed the complaint against Aune, the bill had not yet been signed into law, according to Alaska Public Media.
Alaska is represented by John H. Haley, the Assistant Attorney General, and Kevin G. Clarkson, the Attorney General.
The N95 Respirator Mask Price Gouging Lawsuit is The State of Alaska v. Juan Lyle Aune, Case No. 3AN-20-05758-CI, in the Superior Court for the State of Alaska, Third Judicial District at Anchorage.
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3 thoughts onAlaska Sues Man for Profiting from COVID-19
I agree
I am with u disgruntled American!!!!! U told it right!!!
It seems us consumers just keep getn taking advantage of& it’s gotten out of hand. People& companies have become heartless & would sell any merchandise/item to the ones who’s got the cash& u bet it IS a disadvantage for folks that are barely making it so shame shame shame on them!!!
Yes I understand that this person is morally screwed up but realistically how is what he did any different than what gas companies and prescription drug companies do everyday? A perfect scenario is this. What happens every single time a hurricane hits shore? Gas prices sky rocket. Wouldn’t that also be illegal just the same as this law suit because 90% of the time when a hurricane hits shore a state of emergency is issued but that doesn’t stop gas companies from raising their prices. I’ll stat this again I am by no means supporting this person for doing this with the masks but I wanna bring to light that this crap happens everyday right under our noses and it will continue to happen with gas companies and prescription drug companies and nothing will get done about it. I think someone higher up is upset that they didn’t act first on the N95 masks and put the money in their pockets. “Its all about who you are and who knows you”