Los Angeles city attorney asks to dismiss case against retailers

The Los Angeles city attorney's office signed a request for dismissal after a judge slammed its expert witness in a lawsuit against national retailers over online prices.

The city accused Kohl's and Macy's in 2016 of violating the state's unfair competition and false advertising laws by listing false "reference prices" on their websites accompanied by pitches saying an item was 30% or 40% off.

The city voluntarily dismissed the case with prejudice, according to a request dated Sept. 30, signed by Assistant City Attorney Michael J. Bostrom. It is unclear whether the case was settled. The city did not return repeated requests for comment.

The case had the potential of raking in a massive damage award. The city sought an injunction and a $5,000 fine for each of what could add up to millions of violations.

The attorney representing Kohl's Corp., James F. Speyer of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, also declined to comment. Speyer signed the request.

The city's case against the retailers took serious damage in July after Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ann I. Jones said during the first phase of the trial that the city's expert witness, Clarkson University professor emeritus Larry Compeau, lacked "competent scientific support for his opinions." People v. Kohl's, BC643037 (LA County Sup. Ct, filed Dec. 8, 2016).

Plaintiffs' firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP acted as contingency lawyers for the city. The initial complaint said that Kohl's might advertise a dress for $35, while saying that represented a 30% discount from its "regular" price of $50, even though Kohl's did not previously sell the dress at this purported "regular" price.

According to Jones' statement of decision, Compeau failed to conduct a consumer survey to determine if customers interpreted the advertisement that way.

"Dr. Compeau's testimony is entitled to absolutely no weight," Jones wrote. "Despite his repeated characterizations of his work as 'scientific,' it was not."

In July, Jones gave the city another chance to strengthen the case and dismissed the retail stores' motion to dismiss. But it now appears that the city decided to call it quits after almost five years.

The court's docket still lists a scheduled hearing on Dec. 23 on a motion for summary adjudication.