Walmart settles pandemic price-gouging lawsuit filed by SLO County DA
The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office in a civil filing Thursday accused national retail giant Walmart of price-gouging disinfecting wipes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The agency said the marked-up wipes were sold online at Walmart.com, and the legal action is only related to alleged violations of unfair business practices that occurred within San Luis Obispo County.
Walmart reached a settlement with the District Attorney’s Office on Friday — less than 48 hours after the complaint was filed against the retailer.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court, claimed that disinfecting wipes are classified as emergency and medical supplies.
Under an executive order from the governor’s office in April 2020, such wipes were prohibited from markups that were “unconscionably excessive,” which is defined as a consumer price of more than 50% of the cost of the goods to the business.
“Specifically, plaintiff contends that (Walmart) advertised and sold packs of sanitizing wipes within the County of San Luis Obispo at a price exceeding that permitted for the sale of goods defined as emergency and medical supplies during a declared state of emergency resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic,” the complaint read.
The complaint said that, in May and June 2020, Walmart offered to sell on Walmart.com a 50-pack of Caresour W-075 75% alcohol disinfecting wipes on Walmart.com.
The products were sold eight times to six different households from May 26 through June 22, 2020, the complaint says, for prices between $18.99 and $19.99, which exceeded the 50% markup, the District Attorney’s Office said.
“After being contacted by San Luis Obispo District Attorney’s Office, Defendant removed the item from its online platform and provided a 100% refund to not only the sales within San Luis Obispo County, but throughout the State of California,” the complaint said. “(Walmart) represents the violations resulted from an internal error and contends the error has been corrected.”
The District Attorney’s Office sought a civil penalty of $1,500 against Walmart and the reimbursement of $7,500 for costs incurred by the agency.
On Friday evening, the District Attorney’s Office announced that Walmart agreed to pay a total of $9,000 in a settlement to end the agency’s unfair business practices lawsuit.
“We took action when this pricing matter came to our attention,” Jacquelyn Cook, Walmart senior manager of corporate communications, wrote in an email. “We are pleased we could resolve this with the San Luis Obispo District Attorney’s office.”
The settlement was approved by a San Luis Obispo Superior Court judge.
“Protecting consumers in San Luis Obispo County increases the public’s trust in local business and fosters a level playing field for businesses in our community and beyond,” District Attorney Dan Dow said in a news release. “This important settlement sends a strong message that we are looking out for everyone who lives in our community.”
This story was originally published July 9, 2021 at 3:52 PM.
