Meet the Texas Government Attorneys Suing Over $180 N95 Masks

Houston-based government lawyers with a combined 17 years of experience protecting consumers were tapped when Texas sued a company for price-gouging Texans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both Rick Berlin and Stephanie Eberhardt are litigators in the Texas Office of the Attorney General who teamed up for the litigation, Texas v. Auctions Unlimited, filed Thursday in Harris County district court.

The case alleged that Auctions Unlimited listed auction items on its website for face masks, N95 respirator masks, hand soap, disinfectant wipes and all-purpose cleaner. One auction on March 24 saw bidders going as high as $180 for a 16-pack of N95 respirator masks. The company’s owner, Tim Worstell of Pearland, had gotten warnings from local police and the attorney general’s office, but went forward with the auctions.

“The Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act expressly prohibits anyone from selling necessary items at an excessive price when a disaster is declared,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a statement. “My office will not tolerate anyone taking advantage of Texans in need and profiting from this health crisis.”

Paxton’s office tapped experienced attorneys to bring the lawsuit.

Berlin, the managing attorney of the attorney general’s Houston Regional Office, has practiced in the consumer protection area for more than 10 years, according to his LinkedIn profile. He’s been in charge of consumer protection litigation over price gouging after Hurricane Harvey, fraudulent income-tax schemes that target low-income people and more.

The profile said that Berlin has participated in jury trials that awarded more than $35 million in consumer restitution and civil penalties in cases against debt collectors, credit repair companies and foreclosure-rescue schemes. In 2018, he won a rising star award from the National Consumer Law Center, the profile said.

Previously, he worked as an associate with Howrey in Houston from 2006 to 2009. He earned his law degree from South Texas College of Law Houston in 2006.

The other lawyer on the case, Eberhardt, has worked as an attorney in the attorney general’s consumer protection division since 2014, according to her LinkedIn profile. She earned her law degree in 2013 from the University of Houston Law Center and went on to serve legal internships in district attorney offices in Harris and Fort Bend counties.

A press release by the attorney general’s office said that a Texan who believes they’re facing price gouging should call a toll-free complaint line at (800) 621-0508 or file an online complaint.

Read the lawsuit: