My son likes to watch Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts. One of the fighters he roots for is Daniel Cormier. In 2017, prior to UFC 210 held in Buffalo, New York, Cormier stripped naked and stepped on the scale for his weigh-in. The UFC light-heavyweight champion weighed in at 206.2 pounds, 1.2 pounds over the limit.
Cormier immediately walked backstage and emerged two minutes later for a second attempt, which is allowed under New York State Athletic Commission rules. Miraculously, he weighed exactly 205 pounds. Spectators accused him of manipulating his weight by pressing down on the towel that was being used to shield his naked body to alleviate some pressure on the scale. The move went unnoticed by the commission.
Like Cormier, Walmart has recently been accused of tipping the scales in their favor as well.
Four counties in California filed a consumer protection lawsuit in the Santa Clara County against the Arkansas-based company. The suit accuses the grocery chain of selling products, such as produce, baked goods and other prepared items with less weight than shown on the label. It also alleges Walmart unlawfully charged customers prices higher than their lowest advertised or posted price.
Inspectors from the Santa Clara County Weights and Measures Division, the Division of Agriculture and the Department of Environmental Health assisted the investigation of Walmart’s pricing violations. According to the district attorney’s office, Walmart’s actions violate California’s False Advertising and Unfair Competition Laws.
“When someone brings an item to the register to be scanned, the price must be right,” Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “They expect it. California expects it. My office expects it, and we will apply the law to make sure of it.”
Walmart agreed to settle the suit by paying $5.5 million in civil penalties for the alleged violations. In addition, it must maintain employees who will be responsible for price and weight accuracy in California stores. Finally, the settlement also requires Walmart stores in California to pay $139,908 for investigations conducted by the various state agenices. Santa Clara County will receive $1.4 million of these penalties, which will go to the Santa Clara County DA’s Consumer Protection fund.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time Walmart has been accused of overcharging customers. Last year, the megatailer settled a class action lawsuit for $45 million over allegations it overcharged for packaged meat, poultry, pork and seafood, as well as bagged citrus.
The suit, filed in federal court in Tampa, Florida, in October of 2022, alleged the prices stated on the sold-by-weight goods exceeded the actual per unit costs, resulting in Walmart shoppers paying more than the lowest in-store advertised price for the food items.
“We will continue providing our customers everyday low prices to help them save money on the products they want and need,” a spokesperson for the company stated after the case settled. “We still deny the allegations, however we believe a settlement is in the best interest of both parties.”
According to the California Department of Justice, in 2012, Walmart agreed to pay $2.1 million for overcharging consumers in violation of a 2008 court judgment. “Consumers who were overcharged at the cash register should have immediately received three dollars off the lowest advertised price of the item,” said then-state Attorney General and former Vice President Kamala Harris. “If the price was less than three dollars, the item was to be given to the consumer for free.”
I must have bought our bathroom scale at Walmart because I think it says I weigh more than I actually do.
Reg Wydeven is a partner with the Appleton-based law firm of McCarty Law LLP. He can be reached at pcbusiness@postcrescent.com.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Walmart settles lawsuit accusing them of tipping scales in their favor
Reporting by Reg Wydeven, For Appleton Post-Crescent / Appleton Post-Crescent
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
