Legal

The National Retail Federation (NRF) expressed disappointment in a court decision that will keep the Federal Reserve's cap on debit card swipe fees at 21 cents rather than reducing it to a lower level. "NRF is disappointed and remains confident that the Federal Reserve erred when it set the swipe fee cap far higher than intended by Congress," NRF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mallory Duncan said. "The Fed ignored congressional intent and worked to shield debit card companies and big banks. A self-described victory for the banks usually results in higher costs for consumers."

KlearGear, an online retailer that gained notoriety after charging a married couple $3,500 for writing a bad review, failed to appear in court to defend itself on allegations that it violated fair credit laws. As a result, a federal judge found the retailer had "defaulted." That order paves the way for the couple to ask the judge to order KlearGear to pay damages. Their lawyer, Scott Michelman of the advocacy group Public Citizen, says he intends to do so. The default finding marks the latest chapter in a saga that began in 2008.

Target has been sued by Swatch Group, which accused the second-largest U.S. discount retailer of illegally selling watches that copy its own. In a lawsuit made public on Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Swatch, which is known for its plastic namesake watches, accused Target of infringing its designs for "zebra" and "multicolor" watches. Swatch said the quality of Target's watches is "inferior" to its own, and that their continued sale is likely to confuse shoppers and damage the Swiss company's sales.

CVS could face as much as $29 million in fines for allegedly losing track of prescription painkillers at four of its California stores, from which authorities said thousands of pills may have been sold on the black market. Officials at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the California Board of Pharmacy said Monday that more than 37,000 pills were apparently taken from CVS stores. Meanwhile, CVS pharmacists in Southern California said they've been instructed by the drugstore chain to get their paperwork in order so that no other prescription meds are found to be missing.

In a falling out between two e-commerce companies, a Bay Area art retailer was sued on Tuesday for allegedly hacking into the computer servers of another internet retailer and stealing swathes of consumer information. Gotham City Online, a website that sells discount brand-name shoes, sued Art.com, an Emeryville, Calif.-based company that sells fine art online, in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, claiming trade secret violations and computer fraud. According to the lawsuit, Art.com illegally accessed Gotham City's servers and changed the security passwords and ownership credentials to prevent Gotham City employees from accessing email or company files.

An online shopper from Rhode Island, A. Cemal Ekin, Ph.D., has filed a class-action lawsuit against Amazon.com over its Prime Shipping program. Ekin paid $79 for Amazon Prime annual membership in order to receive free shipping on Prime-eligible goods, but alleges that Amazon induces sellers who participate in its Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program to mark up prices of Prime-eligible items to include shipping charges.

Should workers leaving Amazon.com's warehouses be paid for the time they stand in line to go through security pat downs? The Supreme Court will rule on whether a lawsuit to decide the matter can proceed, granting a petition for writ of certiorari on Monday in Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Busk, which deals with a "claim for overtime pay by workers for the after-hours screening as a measure to prevent workplace theft." The Seattle Times said workers sued in 2010 to receive pay for the time they wait in security screening lines before and after they start their shifts.

When you think of corporate espionage and snooping, you probably think of big manufacturers — electronics, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, packaged food — trying to learn what the competition is working on. One industry that's unlikely to come to mind is retail sporting goods. However, a lawsuit recently filed by the folks at Dick's Sporting Goods accuses Mitchell Modell, CEO of Modell's Sporting Goods, of posing as a Dick's vice president to gain access to the company's secrets. Modell allegedly presented himself a senior vice president to employees at a Dick's store in Princeton, N.J., on Feb. 8.

After their son died from an infection carried by his pet rat, the family of 10-year-old Aidan Pankey has decided to sue Petco. A couple weeks after receiving a rat purchased from Petco, Pankey was rushed to the hospital with severe stomach pains and a fever. On June 12, Pankey died from streptobacillus moniliformis, otherwise known as rat-bite fever, according to the Los Angeles Times. Pankey's family is accusing Petco of negligence in not sufficiently testing the rat for the disease. They also claim that Petco failed to warn of the possible risks involved with owning a rat. 

J.Crew Group Inc., the retailer owned by TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners LP, is interviewing banks as it weighs an initial public offering in the U.S. later this year, people familiar with the matter said. With 451 stores and about $2.4 billion in annual sales, J. Crew may fetch a valuation of as much as $5 billion, one of the people said. That's almost twice the $2.64 billion value of J.Crew's buyout by TPG and Leonard Green three years ago.