Legal

Just when you thought showrooming was here to stay, the Senate throws brick-and-mortar retailers a lifeline. For many physical retailers, including Best Buy, a national internet sales tax may signal the early arrival of Christmas. The potential collapse of the pricing advantage for online-only retailers may help brick-and-mortar models avoid a Circuit City fate. It is also good news for consumers, from a competitive stand point, and for states who will now collect much-needed incremental sales tax.

The Senate passed a bill Monday night aimed at making it easier for states to collect sales taxes for online purchases, but its final prospects remain uncertain. The bill, which passed the Senate 69-27, now heads to the House, where it faces an uncertain future because some Republicans view it as a tax increase. President Obama has said he supports the bill. The act would overturn decades-long precedent and leave many small online sellers with the task of figuring out how to manage collecting and remitting sales tax to nearly every state.

An organization called The Alliance for Main Street Fairness (AMSF), which is lobbying in favor of federal legislation that would empower states in the online sales tax debate, dialed up the rhetoric late last week. The AMSF issued a press release calling out top eBay executives, including CEO John Donahoe (whose name they misspell), for what it calls hypocrisy regarding the Marketplace Fairness Act.

An OfficeMax shareholder sued the directors of the company last week, seeking to block its acquisition by Office Depot, Bloomberg reported. The investor called the proposed $1.2 billion all-stock deal "grossly inadequate."

Global labor rights activists are calling on Western brands to provide fair compensation for hundreds of Bangladeshi garment factory workers killed or seriously injured in last week's building collapse. The official death toll from the collapse of the Rana Plaza, which housed five garment factories that produced millions of shirts, pants and leggings for big Western retailers, has now exceeded 430, with hundreds more suffering lost limbs, broken bones, internal damage and other serious injuries.

Amazon.com's treatment of workers at its distribution centers is making headlines yet again, both home and abroad, thanks to a lawsuit in the U.S. and a possible strike by workers in Germany. The Allentown Morning Call newspaper said workers in Amazon's Breinigsville, Pennsylvania distribution center are suing the company for more than $100 million.

David French, senior vice president of government relations at the National Retail Federation talks with Tom Keene about the potential impact of an online sales tax on the business of both e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retailers.

The collapse of a Bangladesh building that killed at least 87 people yesterday is prompting renewed calls for retailers and clothing companies to ensure the safety of workers in the Asian nation. An eight-story building housing several garment factories collapsed near Bangladesh's capital Wednesday morning, killing at least 87 people and trapping many more in a jumbled mess of shattered concrete and bricks, officials said. 

J.C. Penney is allegedly investigating whether its construction teams are remodeling stores without proper building permits. In-house lawyers have been questioning employees about bending rules as the retailer rushes to unveil 700 new shop-in-shops nationwide, reports James Covert at the New York Post.

eBay is calling on some 40 million of its users to fight national legislation that would give states the power to collect sales tax from out-of-state online retailers. John Donahoe, eBay's CEO, sent the first of the emails out Sunday morning. The message, aimed at users and sellers in eBay's Marketplace, charges that the proposed legislation, known as the Marketplace Fairness Act, would burden small entrepreneurs. The Act, which the Senate may vote on this week, applies to businesses with more than $1 million in out-of-state revenues.