Walmart faces class action lawsuit over “misleading” pricing

(KNWA/KFTA) – Walmart faces a class action lawsuit alleging that the company engaged in “deceptive and unfair pricing practices” on food, a federal appeals court ruled July 3.

Plaintiff Yoram Kahn claims the retail giant exploited consumers through small price differences that “add up to hundreds of millions of dollars each year.”

“Kahn alleges that Walmart is aware of these discrepancies between shelf prices and cash register prices and that its unfair and deceptive pricing practices are widespread and ongoing,” the lawsuit states.

Kahn said he shopped at a Walmart in Niles, Illinois, on August 2, 2022. He relied on the prices listed on the shelves to make his purchase decision.

When Kahn went to the checkout, he scanned 15 items and later discovered that the prices of six of the 15 scanned items were 10 to 15 percent higher than shelf prices, the lawsuit says.

“In total, Kahn overpaid Walmart $1.89 for these six items, nearly seven percent of his gross bill,” the lawsuit states. “For Kahn as an individual, this is undoubtedly small change, but consider Walmart’s volume of business.”

That case was dismissed back in March 2023 after a judge ruled that the injustice caused by inaccuracies in shelf prices was offset by Walmart issuing a receipt after the purchase.

However, the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago recently overturned the lower court’s ruling, saying customers could try to prove that Walmart used a bait-and-switch tactic that violated Illinois consumer protection laws.

This is not the first time Walmart has had legal problems related to its pricing.

In June, Walmart agreed to pay $1.64 million to settle claims for damages over inconsistent unit pricing in New Jersey, according to a press release from New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin.

The New Jersey Department of Consumer Protection said in a settlement that the agency’s investigation found that the state’s 64 stores violated unit pricing rules by not using standardized units of measurement, such as quarts, pounds or per 100 sheets, for groceries and other items.

Earlier this year, Walmart announced plans to install digital shelf labels in nearly 2,300 stores by 2026. This new feature will allow employees to update prices through a mobile app and eliminate the need to manually replace paper labels, the company said.

Nexstars KNWA has reached out to Walmart for comment on the lawsuit and is awaiting a response.