Legal

Ross Stores agreed to pay about $17,000 to resolve allegations it discriminated against foreigners during its hiring process, the Justice Department said. Management at a San Ysidro, Calif. store was accused of improperly requiring a job applicant to provide the company with a green card even though she was cleared to work in the U.S. and had provided a valid alternate form of ID.

A Brooklyn, N.Y. judge has tossed out a $260 million lawsuit alleging that American Apparel CEO Dov Charney kept a young employee as a "sex slave," saying 21-year-old Irene Morales had already agreed to arbitration. Supreme Court Judge Bernadette Bayne delivered her Feb. 10 ruling to attorneys Wednesday, according to DNAInfo.com. Bayne didn't address the merits of the claim that the 43-year-old Charney conscripted Morales, a former manager at a local American Apparel branch, into serving as his sex slave for eight months once she turned 18.

Best Buy said that the U.S. District Court has dismissed putative securities fraud class actions against the retailer and three of its officers. With regard to the class-action lawsuit filed last year, the court dismissed all counts for lack of substantiation. "We have maintained since the beginning of this case that the allegations are wholly without merit," said Keith Nelsen, executive vice president and general counsel for Best Buy. "We are pleased that the court’s decision has vindicated Best Buy and its officers of the unfounded accusations in the plaintiffs' complaint."

The discovery of radioactive tissue boxes at Bed, Bath & Beyond stores in January raised alarms among nuclear security officials and company executives over the growing global threat of contaminated scrap metal. While the U.S. home furnishing retailer recalled the boutique boxes from 200 stores nationwide without any reports of injury, the incident highlighted one of the topics drawing world leaders to a nuclear security meeting in Seoul on March 26.

Ron Poole no longer expects to get the television stand he paid for in July. He's also accepted that his brand new sofa is going to be damaged. But he said he should have known there were going to be problems as soon as he walked into Bel Furniture in San Antonio to take advantage of the free high-definition television the store had advertised.

Ikea is at the center of a spying investigation in France over allegations that it paid private detectives to snoop on workers and pry into the private lives of disgruntled customers who complained about late kitchen deliveries or faulty wardrobe parts.

Organized retail crime affects virtually every retailer in the U.S., costing the industry tens of billions of dollars each year. Worse yet, a majority of companies report the problem is getting worse, not better. Organized retail crime impacts everything from the bottom line to the safety of people in the stores.

The teen model whose parents sued Urban Outfitters for $28 million for printing provocative images of their daughter will face the retailer in court. A New York federal judge rejected Urban Outfitter's fall 2011 claim that the suit was procedurally defective. Judge George Daniels ruled that Hailey Clauson's suit will move forward, stating that the model, "has sufficiently alleged a cause of action against Urban Outfitters for use of her image to create false endorsement or false designation of origin."

Amazon.com won't be required to start collecting sales tax on purchases made by Arizona residents after the state Senate soundly rejected a proposal that supporters argued was essential to protect local employers.

Gymboree will pay the state $463,600 to settle complaints it denied workers meal breaks due under Massachusetts Meal Break Law, state Attorney General Martha Coakley's office said. Gymboree, a San Francisco-based children’s retailer with eight stores in Massachusetts, agreed to pay $130,000 to current and former managers who worked between July 1, 2009 and July 1, 2011. The company will also pay $320,000 in penalties to the state, and allocate $13,600 to update company policies to ensure future compliance with the Massachusetts Wage Act.