Kohl’s Class Action Says ‘Sale’ Prices Are Misleading

Kohl’s department stores have been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging that their discounted items are misleading to customers.

Plaintiff Jill Hennessey alleges that Kohl’s sells their “private and exclusive” items on sale, which is supposedly at a discounted rate than their former advertised price.  

But, the Kohl’s class action lawsuit states, “In reality, the purported ‘sale’ and discounts are illusory, fictitious and in violation of Missouri law because the advertised higher ‘Regular’ and ‘Original’ prices are not actual or bona fide recent former prices of Kohl’s private and exclusive branded products.”

The plaintiff alleges that she would not have purchased the discounted items if she had been aware of the price-comparison scheme perpetrated by Kohl’s.

As an example, the plaintiff notes that she purchased a number of items that were on sale from their “Original” and “Regular” prices. She now states that these prices were misleading because Kohl’s never offered these items at the prices they say were “Original” and “Regular.”

Hennessey argues that Kohl’s has not sold items at the higher and original prices within the past 12 months. Thus, the Kohl’s class action lawsuit claims that customers have not gained from buying items at the discounted price.

The Kohl’s class action lawsuit states that “If Kohl’s agrees to voluntarily change its practices, or if Kohl’s is ordered to do so by a court of competent jurisdiction, such that Plaintiff can reasonably trust that Kohl’s price comparison advertisements will comply with Missouri law, Plaintiff will return to shop at Kohl’s.”

Besides breaching Federal Trade Commission regulations, the deceptive pricing practice is also a violation of Missouri law, the Kohl’s class action lawsuit states.

Missouri law, “prohibits a seller, such as Kohl’s, from advertising former price comparisons unless the comparative price is actual, bona fide and not illusory or fictitious,” the plaintiff alleges.

The Kohl’s class action lawsuit states that these laws are in effect because these types of misleading price comparisons are easy ways to sell items to customers who would not otherwise purchase them.

“Numerous studies show that consumers are much more likely to purchase an item if they are told that it is being offered at a price less than the price at which the seller or its competitors have previously sold the product,” the Kohl’s class action lawsuit claims.

The Kohl’s class action lawsuit also alleges that the retailer was “unjustly enriched” by selling a greater number of items that would not have normally been purchased by consumers.

Class Members in this lawsuit are defined as “All persons who, while in the state of Missouri, and any time between the date that is five years immediately preceding the filing of this lawsuit and the date of any judgment in this case (the ‘Class Period’), purchased from Kohl’s (either at a Kohl’s retail store or from its website) for personal, family or household purposes one or more private or exclusive branded items advertised with a ‘Sale’ price of 20% or more below a stated ‘Original’ or ‘Regular’ price and who have not received a refund or credit for their purchase(s).”

The plaintiff is represented by Robert D. Blitz and Christopher O. Bauman of Blitz Bardgett & Deutsch LC, Matthew Zevin and Scott A. Kitner of Stanley Law Group and Daniel B. Sivils.

The Kohl’s Deceptive Price Comparison Class Action Lawsuit is Hennessey v. Kohl’s Corporation, et al. Case No. 4:19-cv-01866, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

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