MINNEAPOLIS (Legal Newsline) - Target will get to fight a false-pricing class action lawsuit in its home state, as an Illinois federal judge has kicked it to Minnesota.
Judge Ronald Guzman made the decision March 1 in Yoram Kahn's lawsuit, finding the conduct at issue arose in Target's Minnesota headquarters and not the Illinois store visited by Kahn.
Kahn says he bought two kinds of Ritz crackers in Niles, but the shelf price was 30 cents less than what he was charged at checkout. His lawsuit says this happen nationwide on many products and that Target has been fined by at lest two state agencies.
Both sides venue was proper in either Illinois or Minnesota, so Guzman decided whether a transfer north would be more convenient.
"In the Court's view, the material events in this case concern not so much plaintiff's purchases (the significance of which is undercut by the allegations that consumers across the country experience the same pricing practices) as Target's alleged conduct - its decisions to charge consumers across the country more than the price displayed on shelves and refrain from implementing controls to prevent that practice," the decision says.
Guzman rejected Kahn's argument that transfer would unfairly cause him to have to transfer to Minnesota and pay for a hotel. An Ohioan, Kahn said he could have stayed with family and friends for free in Chicago.
He also claimed Chicago is "more accommodating" than Minneapolis for practicing his religion "in terms of access to kosher food and a synagogue," the ruling says.
"(G)iven that he chose a forum that is not his home forum, those preferences receive little weight," Guzman wrote.