In 2021, in the case of AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC, the Supreme Court held that section 13(b) of the FTCA does not, contrary to a decades-long practice, allow the FTC to obtain equitable monetary judgments via court proceedings without first going through administrative proceedings as required to obtain such relief under section 19.
In 2012, a district court issued a 13(b) injunction against Gary Hewitt in a case brought by the FTC, alleging that Hewitt had violated the FTCA and the Telemarketing Sales Rule. The injunction was accompanied by an award of equitable monetary relief. Hewitt never appealed that decision. But after the Supreme Court’s decision in AMG Capital, he filed a Rule 60(b) motion in the district court to vacate the monetary portion of the judgment based on that decision. The district court denied the motion and, in an opinion today, the Ninth Circuit affirmed, finding no abuse of discretion.
