Legal

Affiliates and online sellers are the losers thanks to Louisiana's attempt to pressure Amazon.com to collect its state sales tax on purchases made by Louisiana residents. Amazon sent a letter to affiliates in the state last month explaining it was ending its advertising relationship with them. Not only will Amazon affiliates in the state lose out…

Staples could be on the brink of winning its case against the Federal Trade Commission, possibly clearing the way for it to acquire Office Depot, sources told The Post. The judge overseeing the FTC suit against the office supply chain said he will entertain a motion from Staples’ legal team to dismiss the case once…

A cap on debit card swipe fees enacted by the Federal Reserve five years ago has helped reduce costs for retailers and consumers, but is still higher than intended by Congress and should be lowered, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said. “In most cases, 24 cents per transaction represents a significant savings over the prior noncompetitive pricing,”…

An executive with Amazon.com Inc's unit that sells office supplies to businesses gave testimony on Tuesday that appeared to bolster a U.S. regulator's wariness over a potential merger of Staples Inc and Office Depot Inc. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit last year to block the proposed $6.3 billion acquisition of Office Depot by…

Virginia-based hardwood flooring retailer Lumber Liquidators Inc. has paid the California Air Resources Board $2.5 million to settle claims that the business sold, supplied or offered for sale composite wood products that ARB testing showed exceeded state formaldehyde limits. ARB said Tuesday that the payment also settled state claims that Lumber Liquidators failed to take “reasonable,…

Amazon.com filed suit against a longtime logistics and supply chain executive recently hired by rival Target Corp. over what it said was a violation of a noncompete agreement. In the lawsuit, the Seattle retailer said Arthur Valdez, employed by Amazon for 16 years, was in a position to reveal confidential strategy to its rival. Target touted Valdez’s…

When the U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne presented his 2016 budget, he had a warning for online sellers and online marketplaces, saying it was unfair when small businessmen and women compete against foreign companies on the internet that don't pay taxes.

First it was Subway shortchanging its footlong sandwiches. Now caffeine addicts are up in arms over Starbucks allegedly underfilling its lattes. A class-action lawsuit filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court of Northern California claims that the coffee chain knowingly and systematically serves customers lattes that are 25 percent smaller than the menu claims. The plaintiffs allege that…

Department store Lord & Taylor has reached a deal with the government to settle charges it deceived customers by placing ads in a magazine that looked like real articles. The Federal Trade Commission also charged Lord & Taylor, a unit of Hudson’s Bay Company , with promoting one of its collections by giving 50 fashion “influencers” the…

Staples wants more data from Amazon.com as it prepares to fight the Federal Trade Commission over the federal regulator's challenge of its $6.3 billion merger with Office Depot. Staples filed a motion on March 10 asking a U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. to compel Amazon to produce more documents and data. A subpoena served earlier…