Retail

The ACCC has taken legal action against women's activewear company Lorna Jane for allegedly representing to consumers during the height of the coronavirus pandemic in Australia that its anti-virus activewear would protect them from viruses, including COVID-19.

A job applicant has taken e-commerce giant Amazon to court for allegedly violating the Fair Work Act by refusing to give her a job because was pregnant.

Women's fashion designer Pinnacle Runway has cut its losses and dropped its challenge to a ruling that found a rival's use of the name 'Delphine' to describe a bikini style did not constitute trade mark infringement, after a judge hit the company with indemnity costs for pursuing the 'ill-advised' lawsuit.

International retail giant Gap has successfully opposed the registration of 'clothing the gap' as trade mark by an Aboriginal-owned social enterprise company which campaigns to improve the lives of Aboriginal people.

Convenience store chain 7-Eleven has asked the High Court to find courts do not have the power to make common fund orders at settlement or judgment in a class action, one year after the High Court ruled common fund orders could not be made in the early part of a representative proceeding.

Online retailer Kogan has been hit with a $350,000 penalty for misleading customers during its 2018 TAXTIME promotion by offering discounts on products whose prices had been inflated, far short of the $2 million penalty sought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Supermarket chain Romeo's has been hit with a second class action for allegedly underpaying managers across several stores in NSW.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is seeking $2 million in penalties against Kogan, after a judge found statements the online retailer made during a 2018 promotion were misleading and drew consumers into the company's "marketing web".

The Australian arm of multinational cosmetics company Lush has back-paid over 3,000 employees more than $4 million and entered into a "stringent" enforceable undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman.

The Australian maker of a trendy neoprene handbag sold at high-end retailers has lost a copyright lawsuit over alleged knockoffs, with a judge finding the tote was at most an "evolution in styling" and not a work of artistic craftsmanship with copyright protection.