LEGAL NEWSLINE

NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman reached a $475,000 settlement on Wednesday with Office Depot Inc. to resolve allegations it improperly overcharged more than 500 New York state and local entities.

Office Depot allegedly failed to honor a contract with the New York Office of General Services (OGS) by failing to offer OGS customers a price at least as low as the price at which it sold office supplies to the U.S. General Services Administration. As a result, Office Depot allegedly overcharged the OGS customers, including New York government entities, police and fire departments, schools, and correctional facilities, by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"By failing to honor their contract, Office Depot profited at the expense of New York taxpayers, local governments and state agencies," Schneiderman said. "At a time when municipalities across the state are struggling to meet tight budgets and fund critical services, my office will do everything in its power to ensure vendors honor their commitment to conduct fair and honest business with our communities."

Office Depot will pay $475,000 to the state, which includes sending a check to every impacted OGS customer reflecting 100 percent of the allegedly overcharged amount.

The contract at issue expired in 2013. Office Depot was not awarded a new OGS contract for office supplies following the expiration.