A class action lawsuit has accused retailer New York and Company of allegedly falsely advertising sales and discounts on its website, when the items allegedly weren't actually discounted.
"All reference prices on the website for New York & Co.-branded products are fake," states the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. "They are not original, regular, retail or former prices. They are inflated prices posted to lure consumers into purchasing items from Defendant."
The products the company sells have market values that are lower than both the regular price and the alleged "sale" price, the lawsuit states.
" As a result, consumers received a product worth less than the price paid," the suit alleges.
As an example, the lawsuit said: "Assume a company knows a product will sell in the marketplace at $30," the suit says. "But to increase revenue, the company advertises the product as having a 'regular' price of $100 and being on 'sale' at 60% off. Because consumers value products based on the regular price, and a sale conveys additional savings, the company can sell that $30 product for $40."
The result is that "Consumers are deceived into spending money they otherwise would not have spent, purchasing items they would not have purchased, and/or spending more money for an item than they otherwise would have absent deceptive marketing."
The suit seeks financial damages plus attorney fees and a court order to force the company to cease the alleged false advertising.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorney Alexander E. Wolf, of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman PLLC, of Beverly Hills.
Mitchell v. New York and Company, LLC, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, 2:23-cv-10117