Legal
May 16, 2017 at 10:50 am
Wal-Mart is being sued for both allegedly denying health benefits to same-sex spouses of employees as well as rejecting pregnant employees’ requests to limit heavy lifting, climbing on ladders, and other potentially dangerous tasks. In the former suit, an employee in Massachusetts (where same-sex marriage has been legally recognized since 2004) attempted to add her…
May 15, 2017 at 10:19 am
A federal judge has ordered Wal-Mart Stores Inc. CEO Douglas McMillon to submit to questioning in a lawsuit by shareholders hoping to learn what he knows about suspected bribery by the world's largest retailer in Mexico. U.S. District Judge Susan Hickey in Fayetteville, Arkansas, said McMillon's "direct and personal involvement" in matters underlying a class-action lawsuit…
May 12, 2017 at 11:11 am
Welcome to another episode of Retail Right Now! Big news in the retail industry this week includes Coach's acquisition of Kate Spade, Forever 21 and Rue 21 being accused of stealing an indie brand's designs, and Amazon.com lowering its free shipping minimum to $25.
May 11, 2017 at 10:46 am
Wal-Mart will be asked to pay $300 million to settle a five-year investigation into foreign bribery activities. TheStreet reports the offer would be a fraction of the $1 billion settlement the Obama administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Justice Department had sought. It's reported that Wal-Mart spent about $840 million on its own internal…
May 10, 2017 at 10:36 am
Fast-fashion strikes again … Los Angeles-based women’s apparel and accessories brand Valfré is accusing Forever 21 and Rue 21 of stealing its designs. Valfré’s social media followers alerted the brand of the infringement. On Friday,Valfré served “cease and desist” demands on Forever 21 for allegedly copying the rainbow design of one of its phone cases. “If…
April 28, 2017 at 7:17 am
On Thursday, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that put 24 national monuments at risk of losing their federally protected status. Patagonia’s CEO Rose Marcario is taking a stand against it. “We take this as a sign that Trump and his team prefer to cater to fossil-fuel interests and state land grabs for unsustainable…
April 25, 2017 at 11:07 am
G-III Apparel Group is in trouble for manufacturing and distributing Ivanka Trump-branded apparel and labeling it with “Adrienne Vittadini Studio” labels. The clothing was sold at discount retailer Stein Mart without the knowledge of Ivanka Trump executives. A G-III spokesman offered no explanation for why the clothes carried the wrong label and declined to say…
April 20, 2017 at 12:35 pm
The Walgreens-Rite Aid merger is increasingly looking like it may be blocked by the Federal Trade Commission. Capitol Forum, a trade publication, reported that the FTC was considering a lawsuit. Bloomberg reports the time line to complete the deal has been extended until July 31, as antitrust regulators review it. Walgreens CEO Stefano Pessina said in an April 5…
April 12, 2017 at 10:03 am
Gymboree Corp. is said to be preparing to file for bankruptcy as it faces an upcoming interest payment on its debt on June 1. Bloomberg reports that the Bain Capital-controlled company is seeking to reorganize its debt load and may transfer control to its lenders, including Searchlight Capital, Brigade Capital Management and Oppenheimer Holdings. The children’s…
April 5, 2017 at 10:26 am
Payless ShoeSource filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, saying it needed to shore up its balance sheet in order to position itself for long-term survival in an increasingly tough retail landscape. The discount shoe retailer plans to immediately close 400 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and will also "aggressively manage" the rest of its real estate…
