Legal

Wal-Mart is being hit by yet another lawsuit, as a proposed class-action suit was filed Monday alleging that the world's largest retailer and its staffing agencies broke federal minimum wage and overtime laws. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Illinois' Eastern Division, claims that Wal-Mart and its staffing firms, Labor Ready and QPS, required temp workers in the Chicago area to arrive early for work, stay late, and work through lunches and breaks without pay.

When it comes to flying, it seems that Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael S. Jeffries is obsessed with the details. A 40-plus page manual that was filed with court documents in relation to an age discrimination suit by a former pilot outlined a list of instructions for crew members aboard the CEO's Gulfstream jet that stipulated everything from how to arrange the toilet paper to what type of cologne should be worn. Among the details: the male flight crew had to wear a hat, sunglasses, gloves, boxer briefs and a spritz of A&F41. 

Tax talk has been permeating the airwaves in the U.S. thanks to the presidential race, but the U.K. is home to a different kind of tax chatter these days. Fury is rising over reports that U.S.-based corporations aren't paying their fair share of taxes on revenue generated in the British Isles. eBay is the latest company to get attention from U.K. newspapers, which have already "outed" Amazon.com, Ikea, Facebook, Google and Starbucks.

Wal-Mart will not face class-action gender discrimination claims in a federal court lawsuit in Texas, Bloomberg reported. U.S District Judge Reed O'Connor has dismissed the Texas class complaint, finding that the lawsuit was filed too late. The suit, which alleged the retailer discriminated against women in pay and promotions in the company's Texas region, sought to represent all women hourly and salaried workers, below store managers, employed by Wal-Mart and Sam's Club in the region.

Bakers Footwear, a mall-based retailer of shoes for young women, filed for bankruptcy protection after announcing a plan to close stores and reduce costs because of declining sales. The company listed assets of $41.9 million and debt of $59.5 million as of April 28 in Chapter 11 documents filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in St. Louis. Chapter 11 is the section of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code used by companies to reorganize.

Fresh from a scandal that saw its rugged spokesmodel and unofficial mascot Gary Friedman ousted from his post as CEO, Restoration Hardware is back in hot water for ripping off Emeco's Navy Chair, the aluminum classic designed by the Hanover, Pa.-based company in 1944 for the U.S. Navy and in production ever since. The cut-rate clone, which appears throughout the company's phonebook-sized fall catalog, is called — wait for it — the "Naval Chair."

Wal-Mart is facing its third regional gender bias lawsuit since the Supreme Court rejected a nationwide class-action suit filed by female workers in California and Texas. Three female employees sued Wal-Mart in federal court in Tennessee on Tuesday, claiming discrimination against female workers in the company's Region 43, which consists of Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Mississippi.

As frigid weather begins to set in throughout the U.S., warm and comfy apparel becomes a necessity to survive stepping outside. Just as retail giant Target rolls out boots, socks and slippers for the season, the company may have to rethink a certain pair of shoes as Minnetonka Moccasins is suing the merchant for a look-alike pair. According to The Huffington Post, Minnetonka believes Target snagged its "Thunderbird" design, placing the long-used beaded bird on the toe of similar looking shoes. Court documents reveal that Target once tapped Minnetonka to begin selling the brand in stores, which the moccasin maker clearly rejected.

Wal-Mart lost a bid to dismiss an 11-year-old gender discrimination lawsuit brought on behalf of workers in California after the U.S. Supreme Court barred a lawsuit representing Wal-Mart employees nationwide. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco said in an order last week that the plaintiffs have proposed a reduced class size to between one and several hundred thousand members.

Many e-commerce businesses haven’t had to worry about collecting sales tax in states where they didn’t have a physical presence, but things could rapidly change if one of two proposals moving through Congress is enacted. These proposals, the Marketplace Equity Act and the Marketplace Fairness Act, would require online retailers to collect sales taxes in many states.