Legal

An upscale coffee-press maker has sued J.C. Penney for breach of contract. Bodum Group says the retailer didn't deliver on its promise to build and roll out modern, chic shops within its stores to showcase Bodum's wares. Bodum and Penney had reached a deal in November 2012 to have Penney prominently feature Bodum houseware products and Ordning & Reda office and stationery products as part of its now abandoned plan to transform its department stores into collections of "shop in shops."

A California judge has rejected the proposed settlement of a class-action lawsuit concerning one of eBay's former listing upgrades, citing "obvious deficiencies" in the agreement, including insufficient notification to members of the class and overly broad liability protection for eBay. New Jersey-based Custom LED, a purveyor of motorcycle lighting accessories, sued eBay in January 2012, bringing claims of fraud and breach of contract related to the listings for which sellers paid up to $39.95 for the now-defunct "Featured Plus" upgrade.

Amazon.com famously started life in the "no taxes ever" column. More recently, the Bezos-driven behemoth emerged from its chrysalis with a pair of sales tax wings. Starting Sept. 1, Amazon added two states, Virginia and Georgia, to its growing stable of states in which it collects sales tax and remits it to the state. Amazon already collects sales tax in Arizona, California, Kansas, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington. Plus, Amazon taxes are coming soon to Connecticut, Massachusetts, Nevada and Indiana.

Gap may have found itself in hot water after a report from Al Jazeera America showed footage of Bangladeshi girls as young as 12 working on jeans with Old Navy tags, many of which had barcodes that linked back to Gap stores. Reporter Anjali Kamat's "Fault Lines" segment included footage of a 12-year-old girl in a Bangladesh "finishing house" putting elastic in a pair of jeans. They also found storage tags for the Old Navy brand.

It sounds as though Wal-Mart should have listened a little more closely to state law before deciding to jump into the Texas hearing-aid market. The retailer is being slapped with a federal class-action lawsuit by members of the Texas Hearing Aid Association for selling the hearing devices without a state license. Not only does the group want Wal-Mart to stop selling hearing aids, but it wants the court to order all of Wal-Mart's prior profits from the sale of them returned.

Overstock.com announced the dismissal of a multimillion dollar federal class-action lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of New York in 2009. The suit was brought by Cynthia Hines, a secretary working in a plaintiff's attorney law firm. Hines claimed she failed to understand the company's return policy and alleged breach of contract, common law fraud and New York consumer statute violations. Later Hines added other state consumer claims and asked for an injunction. Early on, Overstock.com identified the Hines suit as "lawyer-driven" and determined that settlement wouldn't be an option, in keeping with its historical practice.

An advocacy group for the disabled says a federal judge is giving Hollister Co. until Jan. 1, 2017, to modify the entrances of its stores so they are wheelchair accessible. Some Hollister stores have entrances that resemble a front porch, with steps. The Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition says a ruling Friday by a federal judge in Denver requires Hollister to make changes at a rate of 77 stores per year so they are more accessible.

By Sam Lewis, associate editor, Integrated Solutions For Retailers Refunding excess fees is also an issue at hand Last month, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon ruled that of the 21 cent cap on

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled today that the Federal Reserve misapplied Congress’ intent when it implemented required swipe fee reform regarding how much retailers are charged for debit card transactions. "From the very beginning, retailers and restaurants knew the Federal Reserve Board of Governors had grossly misapplied the swipe fee law, also known as the Durbin Amendment," said Mallory Duncan, senior vice president and general counsel for the National Retail Federation (NRF). "They failed to heed Congress’ call to set fee standards that were ‘reasonable’ and ‘proportional’ to the actual cost of a transaction."

A British judge has ruled in favor of the singer Rihanna, who sued retailer Topshop for selling a T-shirt bearing her image without permission. High Court Justice Colin Birss says buyers were likely deceived by believing she had authorized its sale. Birss says the sales represented a loss of Rihanna's reputation in the fashion realm, where the singer has been trying to carve out a name as a designer. She has a clothing line in her name at a rival store.