Legal

The Humane Society of the United States led an investigation intoCentury 21's e-commerce site and inside two New York City locations, and found that the retailer sells several animal fur garments in violation of state and federal fur labeling laws. The HSUS press release explains

Genesco, a sports apparel retailer, is fighting back against the arbitrary multimillion-dollar penalties that credit card companies impose on banks and merchants for data breaches by filing a first-of-its-kind $13 million lawsuit against Visa. The suit takes on the payment card industry's powerful money-making system of punishing merchants and their banks for breaches, even without evidence that card data was stolen.

PayPal said Wednesday it would defend the Home Depot, which is being sued over its use of PayPal in its brick-and-mortar stores. PayOne filed a patent lawsuit against The Home Depot on Tuesday for its deployment of PayPal's point-of-sale system. Home Depot Spokesperson Stephen Holmes said on Wednesday they had not yet seen the suit so the retailer could not comment.

The law office of Brodsky & Smith said it's investigating potential claims against the Hot Topic board of directors related to the proposed acquisition by Sycamore. The law firm claims that while, under the proposed terms, Hot Topic shareholders would receive only $14.00 per share; one analyst has set a $16.40 per share price target for Hot Topic stock. Brodsky & Smith says the focus of its investigation will revolve around whether the Hot Topic board of directors failed to conduct an adequate and fair sales process prior to agreeing to the deal with Sycamore.

PayOne filed a patent infringement lawsuit on Tuesday against The Home Depot over its use of PayPal's point-of-sale system, which lets customers check out using PayPal at retail store locations. In the complaint, PayOne alleges that "Home Depot has indirectly infringed and continues to indirectly infringe the '500 patent by ‘knowingly and actively inducing others to infringe by intentionally aiding, assisting and encouraging the infringement of its customers through the PayPal In-Store Checkout System.’"

Yesterday, the court heard Martha Stewart's side of the story, including her reaction when Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren hung up on her. In an emotional testimony, Lundgren described hanging up on Stewart after she revealed that Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia had struck a deal with J.C. Penney. The court saw a list of points that Stewart was to cover in the conversation, but she insists she wasn't reading a prepared statement as Lundgren had thought. 

Macy's may ask a judge later this week to expand a preliminary ban against Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia that would prevent J.C. Penney from selling Stewart-designed goods in certain exclusive categories even if they aren't marked with her name. Justice Jeffrey K. Oing, presiding over a nonjury trial in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, said he will hear lawyers’ arguments on the issue on March 8, when a trial over the sales agreement had been scheduled to end. Oing and lawyers for the two sides discussed the possibility that the trial may go past that date.

One of the benefits of shopping on Amazon.com comes from how the company presents alternatives to searchers on the site. These search results give shoppers additional choices beyond what they may have thought they already wanted. But like many things in life, there's always someone who doesn't gain the same benefit that many other people do from a given practice. As law professor Eric Goldman noted at Forbes, Amazon's search results and merchandising earned it a court challenge.

We used to call it shoplifting, but these days the foot soldiers of retail crime rings are known as boosters. Police even have an acronym for these operations: ORC, which stands for Organized Retail Crime. Police say big retail stores, from Walgreens to J.C. Penny, are getting hit by highly sophisticated shoplifting networks that steal and resell everything from underwear to razors to milk. According to the National Retail Federation, theft can amount to annual losses as high as a $37 billion for retail businesses.

Terry Lundgren, CEO of Macy’s, took the stand on Monday to testify in the trial of two Macy's lawsuits regarding the deal between J.C. Penney and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. The long-awaited trial began last Wednesday in New York Supreme Court. Testifying, Lundgren said he was shocked when Martha Stewart, who at the time he considered a friend, called to tell him about her arrangement with J.C. Penney. "I was completely shocked and blown away," Lundgren said. "I was literally sick to my stomach."