Legal

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.

Those deep discounts on handbags, housewares and other goods offered up by online discount superstore Overstock.com may not be such a steal after all. On Thursday, the Sonoma County District Attorney announced the retailer was liable for false advertising and unlawful business practices. The major issue at stake was Overstock's apparent overstatement of customer savings. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Wynne S. Carvill hit the web retailer with $6,828,000 in civil penalties. Overstock may also have to ante up for the costs of the suit.  

When Macy's reports fourth-quarter results tomorrow, there may be some commentary about weak sales of Martha Stewart merchandise in its home department. At least that's what Macy's said last month in a court filing seeking damages from J.C. Penney in a two-year-old lawsuit. "Post-trial sales have now taken place, and the sales figures show that the effect of J.C. Penney's conduct on Macy's sale of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia goods was substantial," Macy's lawyers said. 

Avon, the world's largest door-to-door cosmetics seller, said settling probes into possible bribery in its foreign operations may cost as much as $132 million. About $77 million was added to a reserve for the potential settlements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of

The National Retail Federation (NRF) is applauding a decision by the Treasury and IRS to delay implementation of some employer requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) until 2015 and eliminate other requirements for small businesses. As a result of changes to ACA regulations announced on Monday, companies with 50-99 employees that don't yet provide quality, affordable health insurance to their full-time workers will report on their workers and coverage in 2015, but have until 2016 before any employer responsibility payments could apply.

A proposed rescue plan for the financially strapped U.S. Postal Service took a step forward Thursday when a Senate committee passed a bill that would end Saturday delivery and make permanent a recent, temporary increase in the cost of stamps. The bipartisan bill would also restructure the Postal Service's health insurance program and a $5.5 billion annual payment the agency must make toward health costs of future retirees, two shifts that would cut significant costs. Commercial mailers, meanwhile, oppose a provision to allow higher postal rates that's designed to bring the mail agency billions of dollars in new revenue.

Four senior senators today introduced legislation that would, for the first time, provide a federal standard for companies to safeguard consumers' personal information throughout their systems and to quickly notify consumers if those systems are breached. The Data Security and Breach Notification Act was introduced by Senators Dianne Feinstein, chairman of the Intelligence Committee; John Rockefeller, chairman of the

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) yesterday sent a letter to Congress restating its long-standing commitment to ensuring the security of consumer data across the entire data-driven marketing economy. The letter states, in part:

Walgreens, armed with a new patent, sued Rite Aid, CVS and Shopko Stores Inc., claiming they're misappropriating its technology for refilling prescriptions with mobile phone scanners. Walgreens, the largest U.S. drugstore chain, with $72 billion in sales last fiscal year, got a patent last month for a system to "express refill" prescriptions and is entitled to exclusive use of the invention, the Deerfield, Ill.-based company said in complaints filed Jan. 31 in federal court in Wilmington, Del.