TJ Maxx Customers Seek Approval of $8.5M Deceptive Pricing Settlement

A proposed $8.5 million class action settlement over allegations TJ Maxx, HomeGoods and Marshalls stores use misleading price tags should be preliminarily approved, four plaintiffs urged a California federal judge on Monday.

Plaintiffs Staci Chester, Daniel Friedman, Robin Berkoff and Theresa Metoyer told U.S. District Court Judge Otis D. Wright II that the proposed TJ Maxx class action settlement “satisfied the standards for preliminary approval and should be approved.”

Under the terms of the proposed TJ Maxx settlement, the defendant will provide merchandise credits to eligible Class Members. The merchandise credits can be used to purchase any product sold at any TJ Maxx, Marshalls or HomeGoods stores located in California.

Class Members have the option to redeem the merchandise credit for cash in amount equal to 75 percent of the credit, the motion for preliminarly approval of the TJ Maxx class action settlement states.

In addition to providing the merchandise credits to eligible claimants, TJX Companies has also agreed to change its “Compare At” pricing disclosures on its website and on its signs in California stores. The company will also make changes to its comparison pricing practices and ensure that it complies with California’s price comparison advertising laws.

The TJ Maxx pricing class action lawsuit was originally filed in July 2015. A consolidated TJ Maxx deceptive sales pricing class action lawsuit was filed on Sept. 3, 2015.

The plaintiffs accuse TJX Companies of using deceptive advertising practices when it listed “sale” prices that were substantially lower than the advertised “Compare At” prices for products sold in California TJ Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods stores.

According to the TJX class action lawsuit, the “Compare At” prices were not based on actual prices for identical items sold at TJX stores or by other retailers, and TJX failed to adequately inform customers about what the “Compare At” price was meant to represent.

TJX sought to dismiss the TJ Maxx pricing class action lawsuit but Judge Wright denied the motion after finding that the “Compare At” price was likely to deceive a reasonable consumer. The company denies the allegations but agreed to settle the sales pricing class action lawsuit to avoid the burden and expense of ongoing litigation.

A hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 16, 2017.

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

The plaintiffs are represented by Christophre J. Morosoff of the Law Offices of Christopher J. Morosoff, Douglas Caiafa of Douglas Caiafa APC, and Greg K. Hafif and Michael G. Dawson of the Law Offices of Herbert Hafif.

The TJ Maxx Deceptive Pricing Class Action Lawsuit is Staci Chester, et al. v. The TJX Companies Inc., et al., Case No. 5:15-cv-01437, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

UPDATE: January 2018, the California T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods deceptive pricing class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.

UPDATE 2: On Dec. 3, 2018, Top Class Actions readers started receiving gift cards worth as much as $27.53 from the TJ Maxx, Marshalls, & HomeGoods deceptive pricing settlement.