Legal

In an open letter and ad campaign, Equal Exchange, an importer of coffee and other commodities, is asking Green Mountain Coffee Roasters to leave Fair Trade USA, a certification organization. Equal Exchange, a Massachusetts-based importer of "fair trade" coffee, cocoa and other commodities, has taken out two full-page ads in Vermont's largest daily newspaper, the Burlington Free Press, taking local hero Green Mountain Coffee Roasters to the woodshed. At issue is what constitutes "fair trade."

Despite reporting an uptick in organized retail crime, the National Retail Federation (NRF) revealed that retail theft rates decreased in 2011, according to preliminary results of the organization's latest National Retail Security survey. The results, which were presented at the NRF's Loss Prevention Conference and Expo in New Orleans, revealed that retail shrinkage — a loss of inventory due to employee theft, shoplifting, paperwork errors or supplier fraud — decreased to 1.41 percent of retail sales in 2011 ($34.5 billion), down from 1.49 percent in 2010 ($37.1 billion). 

The Black Keys aren't shilling power tools or pizza, the band said in copyright infringement lawsuits against The Home Depot and Pizza Hut. The "Lonely Boy" band filed the federal lawsuits last Thursday, claiming Home Depot didn't have permission to use elements of the hit song in an ad promoting power tools and that Pizza Hut misused "Gold on the Ceiling" in a recent ad. Both songs appeared on the rock group's seventh album, El Camino, which was released last year and has sold nearly 840,000 copies. The Black Keys are comprised of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney.

Ritz Camera & Image, which calls itself the largest U.S. chain of specialty camera shops, filed for bankruptcy for the second time in three years after the founding family failed to turn around the 94-year-old retailer. Ritz listed debt and assets of at least $50 million each in Chapter 11 court papers in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware. The company, with sales of $254 million in the 12 months before April 30, said it wasn't making enough money to justify keeping open all its 265 stores.

Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren is scheduled to give a deposition in July in a contract dispute with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., Bloomberg reported. Macy’s sued to stop Martha Stewart Living from executing a sales agreement with J.C. Penney. Cincinnati-based Macy’s said it has the exclusive right to sell Martha Stewart-branded products in certain categories. J.C. Penney acquired a 17 percent stake in Martha Stewart Living for $38.5 million. Lundgren is scheduled for a half-day of questioning on July 3 in advance of a July 13 hearing.

According to a story published by ABC News, a group of 25 women have filed a lawsuit against Sears and a former maintenance worker who allegedly hid cameras in dressing rooms and restrooms at a store in North Hollywood, Calif., between 2009 and April of this year. The suspect, a former maintenance employee who worked at Sears for seven years, was arrested on April 12. The group suing Sears is comprised of 16 employees and nine store customers. They claim Sears knew or should have known the cameras had been installed and are seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Barnes & Noble Founder and Chairman Leonard Riggio agreed on Wednesday to forgo $29 million from a sale of one of his companies to the book retailer in order to settle a shareholder lawsuit, according to court documents, Reuters reported. The lawsuit goes back to a 2009 agreement by the chain to buy back Barnes & Noble College Booksellers Inc. for $514 million from Riggio. Shareholders sued Riggio, saying the deal overvalued the college bookstores and enriched Riggio, Barnes & Noble’s largest investor, at the expense of shareholders.

The two top executives of Wal-Mart Stores gave shareholders their unequivocal commitment to get to the bottom of alleged bribery charges in Mexico that have surfaced against the company. "If any violations occurred, then appropriate actions will be taken. That is my personal commitment to each of you," S. Robson Walton Jr., chairman, said during the company's annual shareholder meeting here. "We will do the right thing the right way. You have my word on that."

A report by Reuters said that New York City's pension funds have filed a derivative lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. based on reported allegations of bribery in Mexico and a possible cover-up by Wal-Mart officials. The suit, filed in Delaware Chancery Court, alleges that Wal-Mart's officers and board of directors breached their fiduciary duty to both the company and shareholders by failing to properly handle claims of alleged bribery and apparently attempting to cover up details of the issue. Wal-Mart could not be immediately reached for comment. 

Costco Wholesale Corp. has agreed to pay $3.6 million to settle a lawsuit filed by 29 district attorneys in California that alleged the retailer failed to properly store and dispose of hazardous materials at dozens of outlets in the state. According to the lawsuit, over a five-year period Costco employees didn't label or sort hazardous materials that had sat unsold on shelves or that customers had returned for long periods of time. This included such items as oven cleaner, bleach, pool chlorine and nicotine patches.