Legal

Retailers have faced tremendous pressure throughout the COVID-19 crisis, as top-line revenue and profits plummeted in many product verticals. Meanwhile, other segments, like essential retail and grocery, experienced overwhelming demand that surpassed operational capacity. At the height of the pandemic, grocery sales hit a record high of $9.3 billion. These retailers had to invest heavily in…

It was no April Fool’s joke when the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) changed the sales tax compliance requirements on April 1. As part of the Massachusetts Advance Payment Program, two big tax changes went into effect for qualifying retailers: one, the requirement to report sales tax is on an entirely different schedule from the…

Rapper Kayne West filed a lawsuit against Walmart on June 24, alleging that the retailer is knocking off one of his latest shoe designs, Yeezy Foam Runners. According to documents obtained by TMZ, West’s team filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court, citing California’s Unfair Competition Law, which prohibits deceptive business practices. The lawsuit also claims that Walmart…

As state and federal governments lift mandatory safety measures following CDC guidance, businesses have begun cautiously reducing their protocols for the first time for both their employees and customers. National retailers like Trader Joe’s, Costco, Walmart, Target, and Starbucks have announced that vaccinated customers do not have to wear masks, and many have dropped the…

Alex and Ani, the jewelry company that grew into a billion-dollar business, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware on Wednesday. The company, founded by Carolyn Rafaelian, listed between $100 million and $500 million each in assets and liabilities, according to the filing. Its largest unsecured debts are with property management companies. It also owes the…

L Brands said Tuesday it will spin off its Victoria’s Secret brand rather than sell it, reports CNBC. The company said it received interest from multiple potential buyers, but its board concluded that separating Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works into two separate publicly traded companies would be a better option. In recent weeks,…

Macy's cannot offer the use of its Scan and Pay app for purchases from departments where employees make commissions, and must pay back commissions on such purchases, a labor relations arbitrator has ruled, reports RIS News. The determination applies to three collective bargaining agreements between Macy's and employees at stores in Boston and other New…

Amazon.com workers in Bessemer, Alabama, voted by a wide margin not to unionize last week, reports CNBC. The result culminates months of a closely watched and hard-fought election to unionize a U.S. Amazon facility for the first time, delivering a blow to organized labor. Approximately 5,800 workers at the Bessemer warehouse were eligible to vote…

Starbucks said Wednesday it has resolved allegations from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) about alleged racial bias in its employee promotions, based on data from 2007 through 2011. In a letter to employees, CEO Kevin Johnson said that Starbucks does not know what prompted the EEOC allegations and that the company’s analysis of its…

Online marketplaces eBay, Etsy, Mercari, OfferUp, and Poshmark have launched "the Coalition to Protect America's Small Sellers" or the PASS Coalition, in opposition to a federal bill aimed at curtailing sales of fake and stolen goods through online marketplaces, reports Yahoo Finance. The federal bill in question is the bipartisan INFORM Act, which was introduced in…