Forever 21 Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Website Terms & Conditions

A New Jersey woman has filed a class action lawsuit alleging Forever 21’s website terms and conditions contain illegal provisions that violate consumers’ legal rights.

Plaintiff Tifany Patterson takes issue with a document entitled “Terms & Conditions” that Forever 21 has set forth on its website.

Patterson contends that these stipulations impose on New Jersey consumers “illegal conditions upon the customers who purchase products from [Forever 21]’s website.”

She argues that these terms and conditions provisions are in direct violation of the New Jersey Truth-in-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act or TCCWNA.

The TCCWNA states that “no seller…shall in the course of his business offer…or enter into any written consumer contract…which includes any provision that violates any clearly established legal right of a consumer or responsibility of a seller…as established by [New Jersey] or Federal law…”

Forever 21 is a popular Los Angeles-based women’s clothing and accessories retailer, that in addition to its brick and mortar locations across the country, markets, sells, and delivers its clothing to New Jersey consumers through it websites, www.forever21.com and forces consumers who purchase the merchandise to enter into a binding agreement, the lawsuit states.

According to Patterson, she purchased a necklace and a pair of sunglasses through Forever 21’s website on Apr. 4, 2016.

However, the company’s terms of use violate the TCCWNA, the lawsuit claims. Specifically, Patterson argues that despite clear law to the contrary, upon purchasing items from Forever 21’s website, she and other potential Class Members were purportedly forced to forego virtually any claim under tort or negligence arising from their use of the website and from their purchases.

Additionally, Patterson states that the “Terms & Conditions” also included a provision that requires her and other online shoppers to indemnify Forever 21 and its personnel regarding any activity from customers’ internet accounts and that it also disclaims liability “for any damages of any kind related to your use of this site.”

“[T]he provisions attempt to absolve [Forever 21] of its legal responsibility to exercise reasonable care and avoid creating an unreasonable risk of harm of consumers,” the lawsuit states.

According to Patterson’s Forever 21 lawsuit, the company is legally prohibited by the TCCWNA from stating that “any of its provisions is or may be void, unenforceable or inapplicable in some jurisdiction without specifying which provisions are or are not void, unenforceable or inapplicable within the State of New Jersey.”

Essentially, Patterson asserts that the provisions stated in Forever 21’s website “Terms & Conditions” agreement improperly releases the retailer of any liability for damages caused to the consumer, even when the damages are the direct result of the Forever 21’s negligence.

Patterson is requesting certification for a Class of New Jersey consumers who were exposed to Forever 21’s website terms and conditions and is seeking a judgment award of at least $100 per TCCWNA violation for each Class Member.

Additionally, she is asking for an order mandating Forever 21 to terminate and remove the above-referenced language in the “Disclaimer” and “Indemnification” provisions of their website’s “Terms & Conditions” from asserting or enforcing the alleged illegal provisions in their Terms & Conditions.

Patterson is represented Gerald H. Clark and Mark W. Morris of the Clark Law Firm and Scott J. Ferrell and Victoria Knowles of Newport Trial Group.

The Forever 21 Terms & Conditions Class Action Lawsuit is Tifany Patterson v. Forever 21 Inc., et al., Case No. 3:16-cv-05087-MAS-LHG, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.