On April 28, 2026, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed HB 895, the Protection from Predatory Pricing Act, into law. The Act makes Maryland the first state to enact a sector-specific restriction on certain personalized, or “surveillance,” pricing practices in the food retail context. Though this legislation is unprecedented, legislators limited its scope to prevent disruption of the targeted sector. The Act contains several carveouts designed to prevent businesses from incurring liability for standard commercial practices.

Continue reading the full GT Alert.

Tags: consumer protection, food, food pricing, GT Insight, maryland
Print:
Email this postTweet this postLike this postShare this post on LinkedIn
Photo of Tonya Esposito Tonya Esposito

Tonya M. Esposito focuses her practice on a variety of consumer issues, including financial services, antitrust, and marketing and advertising. She has considerable experience representing clients in private litigation, as well as in government investigations brought by state attorneys general, the Federal Trade…

Tonya M. Esposito focuses her practice on a variety of consumer issues, including financial services, antitrust, and marketing and advertising. She has considerable experience representing clients in private litigation, as well as in government investigations brought by state attorneys general, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

With deep experience representing a variety of financial institutions in both litigation and compliance matters, Tonya represents clients in litigation involving claims brought under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the state deceptive acts and practices laws (UDAAP), and many types of internal and government investigations. She regularly handles matters involving credit cards, student loans, residential and commercial mortgages, as well as privacy and FinTech issues.

Read more about Tonya EspositoTonya's Linkedin Profile
Show more Show less
Photo of Douglas Gansler Douglas Gansler

Former Maryland Attorney General and president of the National Association of Attorneys General, Douglas Gansler, co-chair of the State Attorneys General Practice, brings 36 years of public advocacy experience to his representation of businesses and individuals facing federal and state investigations, enforcement actions…

Former Maryland Attorney General and president of the National Association of Attorneys General, Douglas Gansler, co-chair of the State Attorneys General Practice, brings 36 years of public advocacy experience to his representation of businesses and individuals facing federal and state investigations, enforcement actions, and civil and criminal matters involving state attorneys general, the Department of Justice, and other government agencies.

Doug represents clients responding to and defending against attorney general inquiries from across the country, whether in civil lawsuits, regulatory investigations, or both. His practice encompasses matters involving financial services, health care, pharmaceutical, insurance, telecommunications, and other consumer-facing industries. He handles complex litigation cases involving procurement, Title IX, and state and federal criminal matters, as well as multistate matters, and provides regulatory compliance advice.

During his 23 years in government service, Doug served as Maryland Attorney General, Montgomery County State’s Attorney from 1999 to 2007, and an assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1992 to 1998. He has acted as first chair in more than 50 jury trials and 100 bench trials, and has argued more than 50 cases in state and federal appellate courts. Doug argued and won a unanimous decision before the U.S. Supreme Court in Maryland v. Shatzer. Following his government service, he was appointed by the Pennsylvania attorney general as special deputy attorney general to investigate the improper use of email by Pennsylvania judges and state employees, and has conducted internal investigations for numerous national corporations.

Read more about Douglas GanslerDouglas's Linkedin Profile
Show more Show less
Photo of Stephen Ruckman Stephen Ruckman

Stephen Ruckman represents clients in federal and state investigations and enforcement actions, with a particular focus on matters involving privacy, cyber risk, data security, telecommunications, and technology regulation. His background includes significant time in government, both at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and

…

Stephen Ruckman represents clients in federal and state investigations and enforcement actions, with a particular focus on matters involving privacy, cyber risk, data security, telecommunications, and technology regulation. His background includes significant time in government, both at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, giving him a practical understanding of how federal regulators and state attorneys general approach enforcement.

At the FCC, Stephen served as senior policy advisor in the Enforcement Bureau, where he led efforts to modernize the commission’s enforcement of online privacy protections and coordinated inter-agency and state-federal enforcement efforts. At the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, he served as the first director of the state’s first Internet Privacy and Safety Unit, overseeing multistate investigations on behalf of state attorneys general into internet privacy and data security. He also litigated constitutional matters on behalf of Maryland in state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, and briefed and argued criminal appeals before state appellate courts.

Stephen also draws on five years as senior advisor to the president for policy at Johns Hopkins University, where he led the university’s policy planning team and co-authored or revised university-wide policies on data retention, intellectual property, open access, online privacy, and discrimination and harassment.

His appellate work defending the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act received the 2012 Supreme Court Best Brief Award from the National Association of Attorneys General. Stephen served as a law clerk to the Honorable Catherine C. Blake of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland and as a Supreme Court fellow for the National Association of Attorneys General.

Read more about Stephen RuckmanStephen's Linkedin Profile
Show more Show less
Eli Lee

Eli Lee handles complex litigation, government-facing disputes, and financial regulatory matters. His practice involves cases with state and federal government agencies, crisis-response work, and pre-litigation negotiations. Before law school, Eli spent three years at a nonprofit focused on government accountability, where he produced…

Eli Lee handles complex litigation, government-facing disputes, and financial regulatory matters. His practice involves cases with state and federal government agencies, crisis-response work, and pre-litigation negotiations. Before law school, Eli spent three years at a nonprofit focused on government accountability, where he produced exhibits for constitutional litigation, drafted responses in Freedom of Information Act cases, and wrote regulatory comments on campaign finance, foreign agent registration, and lobbying disclosure rules.

Eli focuses on case strategy and timelines on civil litigation matters, drafting pleadings, motions, and discovery requests. He also prepares advisory memoranda and correspondence for clients navigating negotiations and disputes. Eli handles document review and due diligence, and develops deposition outlines and prepares witnesses for testimony.

Before his litigation career, Eli worked as a law clerk at an environmental nonprofit, where he researched case law for agency-facing litigation on federal and state pollutant standards and drafted responses in FOIA litigation related to federal oil and gas leasing. He also served as a student attorney in a public law clinic, where he conducted community stakeholder interviews and authored policy memoranda for a member of the D.C. Council.

Read more about Eli LeeEli's Linkedin Profile
Show more Show less
Related Posts
Protect cloud information data concept. Security and safety of cloud data.
FTC Bars Kochava from Selling Sensitive Location Data
May 15, 2026
California Flag
Gov. Newsom Appoints Rohit Chopra to Lead California’s New Business and Consumer Services Agency
May 18, 2026
click to cancel button computer Shutterstock_337846148
Eighth Circuit Vacates FTC’s ‘Click-to-Cancel’ Rule
July 11, 2025