Federal Trade Commission v. Trudeau (Trudeau I)
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
579 F.3d 754 (2009)
Kevin Trudeau (defendant) marketed dubious cures through infomercials. A 2004 consent order barred him from infomercials for any product except books, so long as he did not misrepresent the book's content. Trudeau then promoted his weight-loss book by describing an intensive 500-calorie, hormone-injection regimen as "easy" and requiring no diet, exercise, or pills. The Federal Trade Commission (plaintiff) sued for violating the consent order. The district court found Trudeau in contempt and fined him $37.6 million payable to the FTC. Trudeau appealed, arguing the infomercials did not misrepresent the book and that the fine was neither coercive nor compensatory.
Whether a monetary penalty for civil contempt must be compensatory when the penalty does not give the contemnor an opportunity to avoid it through compliance (i.e., is not coercive).