Penalty Amount
$1,000,000
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, along with the FTC and attorneys general of Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, settled an antitrust lawsuit against John Deere. The settlement requires Deere to provide farmers and independent repair providers with the same repair resources previously only available to authorized dealers for 10 years, and to pay $1 million in legal costs.
Deere must make repair resources available to farmers and independent repair providers equivalent to those provided to authorized dealers, including reading/clearing fault codes, reprogramming components, restarting emissions-related shutdowns, and providing technical manuals. Deere must also instruct dealers to promote these resources, provide notices to customers and the public, submit compliance reports every 60 days initially then annually, and pay $1 million total to the plaintiff states.
In-house legal teams should review vendor agreements with equipment manufacturers, particularly those involving repair and maintenance services. Key clauses to examine include: (1) any restrictions on the use of diagnostic software or tools, (2) provisions limiting repair to authorized dealers, (3) data sharing or licensing terms for repair-related software, (4) obligations to provide technical documentation and manuals, and (5) any non-compete or exclusivity clauses that could be challenged as anticompetitive. Additionally, customer agreements should be checked for clauses that waive the right to repair or mandate use of specific repair providers.
Entity
Deere & Company
Industry
OtherOfficial Press Release
https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2026/07/08_John-Deere.asp
50017 JohnDeere Order
https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2026/docs/50017_JohnDeere_Order.pdf
15 Deere.asp
https://ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2025/01/15_Deere.asp
Deere Complaint
https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2025/docs/Deere_Complaint.pdf
Minnesota Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://www.ag.state.mn.us/consumer/
"Deere & Company"
"Pay $1 million total to Minnesota and the other plaintiff states for their legal costs and fees."
"antitrust lawsuit"
"Deere’s unlawful practices throttled the ability of farmers and independent repair providers to repair Deere equipment"
"Make repair resources available to farmers and independent repair providers that are equivalent to those Deere has made available only to authorized Deere dealers."
"Attorney General Ellison reached with the Federal Trade Commission and the attorneys general of Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin"
The Minnesota Attorney General entered into a 10-year oversight agreement with Sanford Health and North Memorial Health to allow their merger to proceed, conditioned on commitments to invest $600 million in Minnesota hospitals, maintain core services including the Level 1 trauma center at Robbinsdale Hospital, honor collective-bargaining agreements, and maintain charity care and government program participation. The agreement also requires quarterly meetings and annual reporting to the Attorney General for 10 years.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed an opposition to X.AI's motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to block enforcement of Minnesota's anti-nudification law, which bans commercial platforms from allowing users to generate synthetic intimate images of real people. The court previously denied X.AI's motion for a temporary restraining order, and the law took effect August 1, 2026. The AG argues X.AI cannot show irreparable harm and is unlikely to prevail on the merits of its First Amendment claims.
$1.4M
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison reached a settlement with Stevens Community Medical Center (SCMC) over allegations that SCMC improperly calculated discounts required for uninsured patients with household incomes under $125,000, violating the Minnesota Hospital Agreement and state law. As a result, some uninsured patients were billed up to 20.5% more than allowed. SCMC must provide up to $1,412,776.25 in refunds or medical-debt reductions to potentially eligible patients.
$945K
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a settlement with Unlock Partnership Solutions, Inc. over allegations that its 'home equity agreements' were actually unlawful mortgage loans that violated Minnesota's predatory interest rate caps and disclosure requirements. Unlock agreed to pay $944,626 in monetary and debt relief, cease lending unless licensed, and comply with Minnesota mortgage laws.
Attorney General Ellison joined a coalition of 23 other states and DC to sue the Trump administration over a policy that would allow the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to share sensitive TANF recipient data with other federal agencies. The lawsuit argues the policy violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Spending Clause, and seeks to block its implementation.
The Minnesota court denied X.AI's request for a temporary restraining order that would have halted enforcement of Minnesota's first-in-the-nation AI nudification ban (HF 1606). The law bans technology that generates fake nude images of real people, and Attorney General Ellison argued that X.AI's delay in filing the motion showed no immediate harm. The court agreed, allowing the law to take effect as planned.