Aéropostale Wins Fake-Sale Suit, as Reference Price Isn’t Harm

Aéropostale clothing brand owner Sparc Group LLC exited a proposed class suit alleging it uses a perpetual fake-sale scheme to drive up consumer demand and enable it to charge ever-increasing prices.

An inflated “reference price,” by itself, isn’t an injury under the Washington Consumer Protection Act, a federal court in the state said.

• Shawnna Montes didn’t raise a viable claim because she didn’t show she’d been financially harmed by an allegedly bogus reference price on clothing, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Washington said
• Montes paid $6 for leggings with a $12.50 list price she said ...