Earlier this month, we reported that the AGs (including the DC Attorney General’s Office) are paying close attention to delivery and service fees. Sure enough, the DC AG’s office filed yet another lawsuit related to delivery fees on December 7.
The District alleges that Amazon’s Flex tipping practices deceived customers from 2016-2019, stopping only
Last month, we discussed the broad authority that State Attorneys General have in enforcing price gouging laws – many of which remain in effect given the number of states that are still under some state of emergency. We noted the significant expansion in recent AG enforcement, and observed that at least two courts had pushed back on these efforts, dismissing cases brought by the Texas and New York Attorneys General. Just a short month later however, both cases have now been reinstated by appellate courts, again raising the prospects that AGs will continue to push the boundaries in price gouging enforcement, especially while consumers are struggling to deal with high prices due to labor shortages and inflation.
Continue Reading State Attorney General Price Gouging Claims Find New Life
How To Protect Employee/HR Data and Comply with Data Privacy Laws
Wednesday, July 20
As workforces become increasingly mobile and remote work is more the norm, employers face the challenge of balancing the protection of their employees’ personal data and privacy against the need to collect and process personal data to recruit, support and monitor
Recently Georgia Attorney General Carr warned consumers of potential price gouging of baby formula and related scams. He notes price gouging protections are in effect there until at least June 14, 2022 due to a state of emergency caused by supply chain disruptions. Attorney General Carr also noted problems with inflation and gas prices.
Later
We previously reported on an emerging legislative and litigation trend relating to the “pink tax” – a gender-based pricing phenomenon that allegedly results in higher prices for goods and services marketed towards women as compared to substantially similar alternatives marketed towards men. As predicted, the last two years have shown an uptick in litigation (which has been largely unsuccessful) and legislative action (some finalized and some pending).
Litigation
Last year, we discussed an early blow to the pink tax theory of liability in Schulte v. Conopco, d/b/a Unilever, et al. In Schulte, the plaintiffs alleged that various personal care manufacturers and retailers violated the Missouri Merchandizing Practices Act (MMPA) by charging more for deodorants marketed for women than allegedly similar deodorants marketed for men. The product lines at issue contained similar, but not identical, ingredients, came in different sizes, and were available in different scents (fifteen “feminine” scents in the line marketed for women and five “masculine” scents in the line marketed for men). The Eastern District of Missouri dismissed the complaint, ruling that “Missouri law does not compel identical products to be sold at the same price” and that the plaintiff’s remedy “lies with legislation, not litigation.” The Eighth Circuit affirmed on the grounds that the plaintiff mistook “gender-based marketing for gender discrimination.” In order to state a claim, the court ruled that the plaintiff would have to allege that the only difference between the products was the price and the intended target of the marketing. Here, because the plaintiff conceded that the products were, in fact, different, thus dismissal was appropriate.
Continue Reading The Pink Tax: A Litigation and Legislation Update
Last week, Jessica Rich wrote about the FTC’s rulemaking plans for 2022. Make sure you read that post for a detailed analysis of what the Commission is planning. As we looked at which of those topics have generated the most interest on Ad Law Access recently, we wanted to point you to
Shortly after the state of California filed a lawsuit against Amazon alleging deceptive prices, Amazon agreed to pay $2 million in penalties and restitution.
Under the stipulated judgment, Amazon is restrained from using an advertised reference price based on a formula, algorithm, or other method that produces misleading or false results until April 1,
As many retailers and manufacturers that sell directly to their customers know well, sale and similar promotional pricing practices have been the targets for regulators and class action plaintiffs for several years, and Amazon is back in that spotlight, this time in a lawsuit filed by the state of California. There has been a wide
The replay of our recent webinar Selling Online: How to Avoid Flattening the Curve of an Uptick in Website Traffic is available here.
COVID-19 has increased the already dizzying amount of online sales, making the applicable marketing requirements increasingly important. These rules affect not just how companies advertise and promote products and services online,
As retailers have shifted to online and ship to store/ship from store sales, we’ve been getting a variety of questions from our retailing clients.
On the latest episode of the Ad Law Access Podcast, Advertising and Marketing chair Christie Grymes Thompson and partner Kristi Wolff answer retailer questions regarding pricing, shipping, refunds, customer reviews, and
