Legal

A lawsuit accusing lululemon athletica of defrauding shareholders by hiding defects in some yoga pants that led to a costly recall and caused the retailer's stock price to fall should be dismissed, a U.S. judge said. Investors accused lululemon of failing to disclose how its black Luon yoga pants were too sheer, falsely touting its quality control, covering up an inability to address shortfalls, using deep discounts to boost market share, and concealing plans to replace its then-chief executive, Christine Day. The case arose after shoppers found that pants containing lululemon's proprietary Luon fabric were see-through when worn.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) this week urged Congress to pass the bipartisan Save American Workers Act, which would change the Affordable Care Act's definition of full-time employment from 30 hours per week to 40 hours. The NRF sent a letter to the House saying all votes related to the bill would be considered key votes for the association's annual scorecard. "NRF greatly appreciates the bipartisan support for changes to the Affordable Care Act's definition of full-time work for benefit eligibility," NRF Senior Vice President for Government Relations David French wrote. "It is, after all, a common sense approach."

Mary Kay is taking steps to find out the real names of unauthorized sellers of cosmetics and skin care products on eBay. Addison, Texas-based May Kay Inc. is asking a Texas District Court for the authority to depose representatives of eBay Inc. with the purpose of finding out the identities of sellers that claim to sell genuine Mary Kay products. In the court filing, the company said it doesn't authorize the sale of any of its products on eBay or the use of its trademarks on eBay.

Brookstone, the struggling retailer known for its consumer gadgets, massage chairs and eclectic home furnishings, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday, with plans to sell itself to the owner of the Spencer's retail chain for about $147 million. The filing caps a challenging period for Brookstone, which has laid off workers and closed stores amid a decline in sales. The company, which is privately held and based in Merrimack, N.H., said it lost $18 million in the 13 weeks that ended Sept. 28, compared with a loss of $12 million in the period a year earlier. 

A recent ruling against Cole Haan from the Federal Trade Commission puts marketers on notice that pinned content on Pinterest featuring a brand's product and generated via a contest must be clearly marked as a product endorsement. The FTC hasn't previously explicitly addressed whether a pin on Pinterest constitutes an endorsement, but the agency asserted in a recent letter that the brand created a deceptive situation because consumers didn't realize others had received an incentive for pinning the brand's products to Pinterest. 

May Kay Inc. is asking a court for the authority to depose eBay representatives in order to learn the identities of sellers that claim to sell genuine Mary Kay products, according to the Dallas News. The firm has been trying to get its cosmetics off of eBay since at least as far back as 2003 when EcommerceBytes wrote about a crackdown to prevent consultants from selling on eBay. A former consultant cited the first sale doctrine in her defense when she faced

Wal-Mart this week sued Visa Inc for $5 billion, accusing the credit and debit card network of excessively high card swipe fees, several months after the retailer opted out of a class-action settlement between merchants and Visa and MasterCard. Visa declined to comment on the suit, filed Tuesday in the

Specialty retailer Brookstone is preparing to file for bankruptcy as early as Sunday with a plan in place to be bought by another specialty retailer, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Spencer Spirit Holdings Inc., which owns the retail chain Spencer's and costume retailer Spirit, has been in discussions with Brookstone for weeks and both retailers are looking to finalize sale paperwork over the weekend leading up to a bankruptcy filing, the report said. 

Apple and Amazon.com customers were notified on Tuesday of opportunities to get money back as a result of two legal settlements with the government. Both cases revolved around Apple. Apple emailed customers eligible for a refund related to a federal complaint that children could make purchases in iPhone or iPad apps without adequate parental consent. In January, Apple reached an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission to pay at least $32.5 million in refunds. In another email, Amazon notified customers about store credit they received for e-book purchases, a result of a settlement reached with five major book publishers. 

The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Tuesday in the latest challenge to the Obama health care overhaul. This time the issue is whether for-profit corporations, citing religious objections, may refuse to provide some, or potentially all, contraceptive services in health plans offered to employees. It's a case that touches lots of hot-button issues. In enacting the ACA, Congress required large employers to provide basic preventive care for employees. That turned out to include all 20 contraceptive methods approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Under the law, religious nonprofits were exempted from this requirement, but for-profit corporations were not.