Legal

U.S. shopping center owners, smarting from high vacancies partly due to the rise in internet shopping, are throwing their weight behind federal bills aimed at requiring online retailers to collect sales tax. At the same time, some of the biggest mall owners also are gaining traction in their efforts in individual states to squeeze sales tax out of the world's largest online retailer — Amazon.com. Seven states have reached pacts with Amazon to collect sales tax, with Nevada and Texas joining the list last week. Five more states are in talks on similar deals.

The estate of legendary actor and cultural icon Humphrey Bogart filed suit against Burberry to address the retailer's unauthorized, commercial use of Humphrey Bogart's publicity rights in an international advertising campaign. Using social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook, Burberry advertised globally that Humphrey Bogart wore a Burberry trench coat in the final scene of Casablanca. The Bogart Estate, however, never gave permission for the use of Humphrey Bogart's image in this advertising campaign.

In September 2011, an eBay seller filed a class-action lawsuit claiming eBay failed to give notice to sellers of the "Good Til Cancelled" (GTC) insertion fees. The case revolves around how eBay informed sellers of the GTC fees. 

Wal-Mart has agreed to pay $4.8 million in back wages and damages to thousands of employees for unpaid overtime after a probe by the U.S. Department of Labor found that the retailer had violated a federal law governing overtime pay. Wal-Mart will also pay $463,815 in civil fines. According to the Labor Department, Wal-Mart failed to pay overtime to certain employees, considering them to be exempt from overtime requirements when they were, in fact, not exempt. Wal-Mart said it has already adjusted its pay practices, determining that back wages should be paid for 3,700 employees in two roles.

Columbia Sportswear sold and distributed mislabeled pesticide-treated clothing in violation of federal pesticide rules, according to a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA found that the clothing labels lacked the required EPA pesticide registration number, a proper ingredient statement, a proper storage and disposal statement, and were missing the statement "It is a violation of Federal Law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling." The EPA immediately issued a Stop Sale Order on the products until they could be properly labeled. Columbia Sportswear will pay a fine of $22,880.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. stepped up damage control on Tuesday as its shares sank for a second day and the reverberations continued from the retailer's admission that it was investigating allegations of bribery by its operations in Mexico.

On Saturday, The New York Times published an investigative article that reported executives of Wal-Mart de Mexico, the largest foreign subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., may have engaged in “widespread bribery” to accelerate the company’s expansion in Mexico. After the article was published, Wal-Mart officials acknowledged the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer is investigating possible violations of U.S. law that ban bribery in foreign countries. The Wall Street Journal reported Wal-Mart first disclosed the internal probe in a December filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Under Armour notified employees last week about a data breach that may have exposed their names, Social Security numbers and salary information. Baltimore-based Under Armour told employees in an email message that an unencrypted thumb drive containing employee payroll information was lost in the U.S. mail on or about April 12 by its auditing firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers. The thumb drive was sent by mail in connection with a recent audit, the memo said. 

A Ventura, Calif. judge approved a settlement that forces CVS Caremark Corp. to pay $13.75 million to settle California claims that it illegally disposed of hazardous waste at California stores. CVS came under investigation in 2010 after allegations were made that the drugstore chain had mishandled medical, pharmaceutical and photographic waste at California stores over a seven-year period.

Apple Inc. and publishers Penguin and Macmillan have decided to fight U.S. government charges that they conspired to fix the prices of e-books, even as three other publishers agreed to a settlement aimed at lowering prices for consumers. The Justice Department accused Apple of colluding with five publishers as the Silicon Valley giant was launching its iPad in early 2010 and was seeking to break up Amazon's low-cost dominance in the digital book market.