Legal
August 31, 2017 at 10:16 am
Estee Lauder is being sued by federal regulators for discriminating against men. Bloomberg reports the cosmetic company’s parental leave policy allows new fathers to take two weeks of paid leave for “child bonding,” while new mothers get six weeks, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “It's wonderful when…
August 30, 2017 at 9:37 am
Simon Property Group, the largest shopping mall operator in the U.S., is suing Starbucks Corp. over the coffee giant’s decision to close 78 Teavana stores within its malls. The lawsuit states that Starbucks is breaching its leases by closing the Teavana stores and “shirking its contractual obligations at the expense of Simon’s shopping centers and the…
August 18, 2017 at 10:23 am
Welcome to this episode of Retail Right Now. Today, Total Retail reviews Amazon's tax amnesty program for its FBA sellers, Amazon Instant Pickup, and Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank's resignation from President Trump's advisory jobs panel.
August 17, 2017 at 11:17 am
Amazon.com sellers owing an estimated $2 billion in uncollected sales taxes are being offered a chance to waive those charges. CNBC reports 13 states have come together to announce a new sales tax amnesty program for online merchants who sell on Amazon and other online sites. Starting August 17, sellers with potential tax liability can…
August 16, 2017 at 10:19 am
A federal judge has ordered Costco to pay Tiffany & Co. $19.4 million in damages for the warehouse club’s illegal sale of counterfeit engagement diamond rings bearing the “Tiffany” name. U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain said Tiffany deserves $11.1 million, plus interest, representing triple the lost profit from Costco's trademark infringement, plus the $8.25…
August 9, 2017 at 9:54 am
Gucci has filed a lawsuit against Forever 21 for allegedly knocking off its trademark stripe webbing designs. The complaint was made in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California on Tuesday. The contents of the filing include a motion to dismiss Forever 21’s earlier complaint against a threat of trademark litigation from Gucci and…
August 8, 2017 at 10:33 am
A growing number of states are sending out notices to online and catalog companies based outside their jurisdiction requiring such companies to now comply with this or that new law or regulation (key word here: “outside”). Chances are, your company has received one or more of these notices even though you have no physical presence…
August 7, 2017 at 10:57 am
While we may be in the midst of summer, the back-to-school (BTS) shopping season has already started. And for Generation Z, it’s happening in-store. Despite this emerging group of consumers growing up with phones in hand, Generation Z kids are still looking for the personal in-store experience of loading notebooks and No. 2 pencils into…
July 28, 2017 at 9:56 am
Bass Pro Outdoor World, the sporting goods retailer with 82 stores, agreed to pay $10.5 million to settle a nationwide class-action case brought in Houston by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which accused the outdoor outfitter of rejecting qualified black and Hispanic job applicants and retaliating against employees who objected to the alleged practice. The…
July 28, 2017 at 9:28 am
Top Republicans driving the GOP tax reform effort have given up on border adjustment. The border adjustment proposal was a key revenue-raising plank of the plan House Republicans unveiled last year. It would have taxed imported products but let exports go untaxed. Retailers that get many of their products from overseas raised concerns about the proposal, saying…
