Ingham County Circuit Judge James S. Jamo on Monday granted Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel authority to proceed with submitting subpoenas for court entry in the attorney general’s ongoing investigation of the Me Too Kits Company.
Nessel warned the company on August 29 that it was in violation of several sections of Michigan’s Consumer Protection Act. A Notice of Intended Action was issued the same day, giving the company an opportunity to immediately cease and desist from engaging in unlawful business practices.
Although its website has been down in recent days, the Me Too Kits Company is marketing a sexual assault evidence kit, described as a “sexual assault evidence kit for at-home use.”
The do-it-yourself, at-home evidence kit was first brought to Nessel’s attention by career sexual assault prosecutors who were alerted to it by a Title IX coordinator.
“Sexual assault evidence collection kits are free in Michigan to those who seek medical attention for a sexual assault,” said Nessel. “Not only would this so-called ‘evidence kit’ fail to address the health needs of many sexual assault survivors, but it would completely compromise critical evidence needed to hold an assailant accountable by failing to ensure proper chain of custody.”
Medical forensic exams also include photographs, documenting injuries and conducting a thorough anatomical investigation by a qualified professional in an appropriate setting, added Nessel.
While the company’s attorneys have spoken with assistant attorneys general in the department’s Corporate Oversight Division, there has been no agreement as to the resolution of Nessel’s concerns that the
company was engaging in several unfair trade practices made unlawful by the Michigan Consumer Protection Act, including:
• Representing that services have sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits, or quantities that they do not.
• Causing a probability of confusion or of misunderstanding as to the legal rights, obligations, or remedies of a party to a transaction.
• Failing to revel a material fact, the omission of what tends to mislead or deceive the consumer and which in fact could not reasonably be known to the consumer.
• Failing to reveal facts that are material to the transaction in light of representations of fact made in a positive manner.
The company had 10 days in which to provide the Department of the Attorney General with assurances of voluntary compliance, which must include an agreement that the company will not sell these sexual assault kits to Michigan consumers.
When it became clear last week that an assurance agreement was not possible, Nessel filed a petition seeking authorization for subpoenas. The subpoenas will include a demand for documents explaining various representations that previously appeared on the company’s website. The subpoenas will also compel corporate representatives to provide investigative testimony.
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