Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit against Center for COVID Control for providing invalid, false and delayed COVID-19 test results, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

Center for COVID Control operated at least a dozen testing sites in Washington including in Auburn, Seattle and Tacoma. A Center for COVID Control testing site in Auburn was shut down on Jan. 13 after Auburn code enforcement discovered the business did not have a valid business license.

The company’s alleged unlawful acts included storing tests in garbage bags for over a week rather than properly refrigerating them, among others, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

Ferguson’s lawsuit claims that the company violated the Washington Consumer Protection Act by intentionally failing to provide patients with accurate and valid COVID-19 test results.

“Defendants threatened the health and safety of the people of Washington and engaged in unfair or deceptive acts or practices in violation of the Consumer Protection Act, RCW 19.86, while operating COVID-19 testing sites throughout Washington without municipal business licenses to do so,” the lawsuit said.

The company contributed to the spread of COVID-19 by providing faulty tests, Ferguson said.

Center for COVID Control has billed the federal government $124 million for tests for uninsured patients. However, in many cases employees were instructed to mark patients as uninsured even if they were insured, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

Several patients and employees made complaints about Center for COVID Control to the Attorney General’s Office concerning the company’s practices.

Ferguson’s lawsuit asks the courts to make Center for COVID Control pay up to $12,500 per violation of the Consumer Protection.