Walgreens etc. gouge on generics says suit

“CVS, Walgreen’s, Wal-Mart and other major pharmacies overcharge customers for generic drugs, a class action claims in Hennepin County Court. Minnesota law requires pharmacies to pass along the discounts they receive on generics to consumers, but the class claims the pharmacies “routinely violate this law and … see the lower acquisition cost of generic drugs as an opportunity to generate higher profit for themselves.”

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Class action filed against J&J, Walmart & others

“On Friday, May 15, 2009, Keller Rohrback L.L.P. (www.krclassaction.com) filed a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey against several manufacturers of children’s bath and personal care products which contain the carcinogenic ingredients formaldehyde and 1,4 dioxane. Plaintiffs are purchasers of the following brand name products, among others:

 -- Johnson's Baby Shampoo * (manufactured by Johnson & Johnson)
 -- Suave Kids 2-in-1 Shampoo * (manufactured by Helene Curtis)
 -- Grins & Giggles Milk & Honey Baby Wash * (manufactured by Gerber)
 -- Dora the Explorer Bubble Bath * (manufactured by MZB Personal Care)
 -- Pampers Kandoo Foaming Handsoap * (manufactured by Proctor &
    Gamble)
 -- Equate Tearless Baby Wash * (manufactured by Wal-Mart)"

Sales tax refunds: new class action?

According to George Gombossy who tracks consumer complaints for the Hartford Courant, dozens of consumers have complained to him that stores like Home Depot and Wal-Mart have refused to include state sale tax on returned items.  I’m not clear if this applies to every state but in Connecticut at least its illegal to withhold state sales tax from returns.  I’m watching out for this issue as the next hot area for retail class actions.

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TMI! Worst SEC disclosures of 2008

Fun poll over at footnoted.org where you can vote on which disclosure was must embarrassing.  My top favorites were Wal-Mart’s $1,350 an hour for a legal consultant and Playboy’s 400k for Hugh Hefner’s live-in girlfriends (I voted for Hugh).

But there are more so go vote now!

Trampled Wal-mart family sues

That was quick; the family has sued the big box
retailer in New York state court for negligence.

Complaint courtesy Courthousenews

Disclosing Litigation to the SEC

This has long been a pet-peeve of mine.  Why are companies allowed so much latitude about this kind of reporting?   Some companies decide none of their litigation rises to the level of disclosing.  Says who?  Other companies give detailed and useful information about their litigation (see Walmart’s latest 10-Q) in the section labeled “legal proceedings,” other companies bury this information in a footnote (see McKesson which include this info under “note 12 other Commitments and Contigent Liabilities in its latest 10-Q), still other companies spin the nature of the litigation to make them appear in a good light: (see previous post on Arthocare)  Since litigation is public information, fairly easy to verify, does the SEC do that?  And why do they allow companies to hide their litigation in miscellaneous footnotes?  If someone has an answer please post.