Legal

The former Chief Executive of Duane Reade has been sentenced to three years in prison for exaggerating the New York City drugstore chain's income. Anthony Cuti was ordered to pay a $5 million fine.

CVS Pharmacy has agreed to pay more than $2 million in fines and other costs to settle a consumer protection lawsuit alleging that the drugstore chain overcharged customers for sale items and engaged in misleading advertising.

The parents of a 15-year-old model are suing Urban Outfitters — as well as two other retailers and photographer Jason Lee Parry, for putting images of the model "in a blatantly salacious manner with her legs spread, without a bra, revealing portions of her breasts," on T-shirts and other merchandise. They're seeking $28 million in damages.

Starbucks will pay $75,000 to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed when a barista who has dwarfism was fired after asking for a stool. During Elsa Sallard's training in 2009, a manager decided that she would pose a danger to customer and employees and let her go. In addition to the settlement, Starbucks will provide training on disability issues to managers and supervisors at stores in El Paso, Texas.

Zara is involved in accusations of slave and child labor at one of its factories in Brazil. The company’s national suppliers started to be investigated by the Bureau of Labor and Employment in May, when 52 people were found working at a factory under unsanitary conditions, producing pants for Zara Brazil.

Esprit is exploring the sale of its U.S. and Canadian operations, according to three people familiar with the matter. Rothschild in New York has been hired to advise Esprit, said the people, who declined to be identified because the process isn’t public. The assets are likely to be shown to a number of private-equity funds, said one of the people.

A growing grassroots movement is pushing the Houston city council to become the first fair trade city in Texas. The campaign, launched by Houstonian Kendra Penry, calls on the city to follow in the footsteps of Milwaukee and Chicago and purchase fair trade certified goods when available, ensure ongoing education, and commitment to fair trade, and encourage the community to use, sell or provide fair trade products whenever possible.

The Dodgers' merchandise vendor must take the financial risk of ordering gear for next season without knowing whether the Dodgers might boot the vendor before the season starts, a federal bankruptcy judge ruled.

Thousands of Americans have signed an online petition calling on retailer Forever 21 to remove an original design copied from the socially conscious New York label Feral Childe.

A privacy ruling from California’s highest court found that the practice of asking credit card customers for ZIP codes constituted a violation of state consumer privacy. This could have substantial implications for retailers, warns Mac Nadel, retail/wholesale, food and beverage industry practice leader for Marsh Inc.