Legal

Conn's HomePlus Announces Bankruptcy Filing, Store Closures
July 24, 2024 at 3:34 pm

Conn's HomePlus, the Texas-based home goods, furniture and electronics retailer, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday and is closing 73 of its 170 stores, multiple news outlets reported. The closures and bankruptcy filings come after a year of lost profits for Conn's — the company ended 2023 with a year-over-year net loss of nearly…

Amazon, Better Business Bureau File Joint Lawsuit Targeting Fake Reviews
July 22, 2024 at 6:33 pm

Amazon.com and the Better Business Bureau filed a lawsuit last week against a business called ReviewServiceUSA.com that allegedly facilitated the sale of fake, positive reviews on Amazon product listings and Better Business Bureau profile pages. “In exchange for a fee, defendants or their agents used customer accounts that they control to post fake product reviews on…

Under Armour to Pay $434M to Settle Lawsuit Over Sales Disclosures
June 24, 2024 at 9:00 pm

Under Armour on Friday said it has agreed to pay $434 million to settle a 2017 class action lawsuit accusing the sports apparel maker of defrauding shareholders about its revenue growth in order to meet Wall Street forecasts. The proposed settlement, subject to court approval, averts a scheduled July 15 trial in Baltimore federal court.…

Where the Song-Beverly Credit Card Act Meets Internet Pixel Litigation
June 10, 2024 at 6:18 pm

Retailers have had to contend with California’s Song-Beverly Credit Card Act since 1971. Among other things, this law set limits on what information retailers can and cannot collect at the point of sale. A 2011 decision by the California Supreme Court saw a wave of class action lawsuits against retailers in the early part of…

Walmart, Capital One End Consumer Credit Card Agreement
May 28, 2024 at 6:30 pm

Capital One Financial will no longer be the exclusive issuer of Walmart-branded credit cards, the companies said on Friday, as they scrapped their agreement following disputes, reports Reuters. The world's largest retailer had accused Capital One of being too slow in updating transactions in cardholders' accounts and failing to promptly replace lost cards. Walmart partnered…

Is the New York Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act Gaining Steam?
May 23, 2024 at 3:51 pm

The New York Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act (Fashion Act) is back on the agenda of the New York State Legislature. Introduced in 2022, and then reintroduced in 2023, the bill seeks to level the playing field among fashion companies by requiring improved due diligence on both environmental and human rights issues. The Fashion…

The New York Fashion Workers Act Slowly Progressing Forward
May 20, 2024 at 6:45 pm

As a means to regulate modeling and creative agencies and provide basic labor protections to the creative workforce behind the fashion industry — models, influencers, artists, and stylists — the New York Fashion Workers Act (FWA) was introduced by Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assembly Member Karines Reyes in March 2022. Recently, legislators in New York…

Affirmative Action One Year Later: What Retailers Need to Know
May 20, 2024 at 6:24 pm

We're quickly approaching the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision striking down affirmative action in higher education. Although Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard University and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina (Harvard/UNC decision) did not squarely apply to the private sector, corporations have been swept into a nationwide conflict…

NRF Rejects Shein Membership as Retailer Pursues US IPO
May 14, 2024 at 5:40 pm

Shein has attempted to become a member of the National Retail Federation (NRF), the industry’s largest trade association, numerous times but has been rejected, reports CNBC. It’s unclear why the NRF rejected Shein’s membership application, but according to one of the people familiar, someone with sway is strongly against the company’s admittance. The NRF hasn’t totally…

Win Customers, Avoid Lawsuits: Minimizing Reference Price Litigation Risk
May 14, 2024 at 12:28 pm

False reference price and deceptive pricing class actions are a growing concern for retailers, with lawsuits multiplying faster than ever. Broadly speaking, these lawsuits allege that retailers that routinely offer items at sale prices or that run regular “limited time” offers are engaging in deceptive advertising. The lawsuits allege the purpose of overfrequent sales is…