Wyoming

• Pages: 649-656

649

CHAPTER 52

WYOMING

A. Scope of the Statute and Elements of a Cause of Action

The Wyoming Consumer Protection Act (WCPA)1 prohibits a person

or entity from knowingly engaging in a “deceptive trade practice” in the

course of his or its business “and in connection with a consumer

transaction.”2 A “consumer transaction” is “the advertising, offering for

sale, sale or distribution of any merchandise to an individual for purposes

that are primarily personal, family, or household.”3 This “merchandise”

can be “any service or any property, tangible or intangible, real, personal

or mixed, or any other object, ware, good commodity, or article of value

wherever situated.”4

The WCPA defines “deceptive trade practices” to include sixteen

specifically identified acts.5 Largely, but not exclusively, these identified

acts involve misrepresentations and misleading statements made in the

advertising or offering of merchandise.6 Accordingly, the Wyoming

Supreme Court has observed that the WCPA “was drafted primarily to

protect consumers from unscrupulous and fraudulent marketing

practices.”7

While its primary aim may be to protect against misleading marketing,

the WCPA does not end there. For example, expressly included in the list

of “deceptive trade practices” are violations of three other Wyoming

statutes involving: (1) use of arrest photographs;8 (2) compliance with

blockchain regulations;9 and (3) sales of tobacco products.10

More broadly, the WCPA also forbids “unfair or deceptive acts or

practices.”11 Although not defined by statute, the Wyoming Supreme

Court has observed that a “deceptive practice” is “one that is likely to

1. WYO. STAT. ANN. §§ 40-12-101 through 40-12-706.

2. Id. § 40-12-105.

3. Id. § 40-12-102(a)(ii).

4. Id. § 40-12-102(a)(vi).

5. Id. § 40-12-105.

6. Id.

7. Herrig v. Herrig, 844 P.2d 487, 495 (Wyo. 1992).

8. WYO. STAT. ANN. § 40-12-105(a)(xvi).

9. Id. § 40-12-105(a)(xvii).

10. Id. § 9-4-1208(e).

11. Id. § 40-12-105(a)(xv).