SAN JOSE, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - Clothing retailer J. Crew has successfully invoked an arbitration clause to defend itself from a class action lawsuit.
California federal judge Jeffrey White on Nov. 6 sent the lawsuit filed by plaintiff Evguenia Babaeva to arbitration, almost six months after the company filed its motion to dismiss. The lawsuit says J. Crew misleads consumers when it offers "comparable value" prices on its products.
J. Crew noted shoppers on its website agree to its terms of use and privacy policy, which include a hyperlink to full terms that include an arbitration clause and class action waiver.
"This broad provision encompasses the claims in this action," White wrote. "The Court does not find that the notices of the company's regular updated terms and conditions nor the repeated advertisements sent by email to its customers renders the arbitration provisions inconspicuous.
"Further, the Court does not find (and Plaintiff does not contend) that the arbitration provisions in the terms of use or the rewards program were procedurally or substantively unconscionable."
The plaintiff claims he made multiple purchases of clothing from the defendant's retail locations and that J. Crew misleads consumers as to the quality and value of the merchandise sold online and at its retail stores by using "deceptive sales tactics."
Specifically, he claims J. Crew offers "comparable value" prices on all of its products but fails to inform consumers what the value of prices and savings are based on and that "comparable value" prices correspond to prices "for other, higher quality products" at J. Crew but not J. Crew Factory.
The plaintiffs allege the JCF products are not comparable to JC clothing because the JC clothing is a higher quality of material and stitching than JCF clothing. They claim the defendant's "false reference pricing" violates state and federal law.