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The gigantic international retail chain Walmart may soon find itself in court in Pennsylvania. Brian Farneth, a man from the state of Pennsylvania has filed a class action lawsuit against the low price Juggernaut after what he believes was an instance of over taxing. The lawsuit hinges around a transaction in which Farneth purchased 2 cans of shaving cream in order to take advantage of a 2 for 1 deal. When Farneth purchased the 2 cans of shaving product, he was charged for the sales price of a single can of cream, but charged for the sales tax of 2 cans of cream – an additional 21 cents. Although this seems like small change on the surface, Farneth believes that the cheap goods emporium could be guilty of this behavior on a larger scale.
Walmart’s Checkered Past
It’s certainly not the first time that this dominant big box store has been in the news for potentially nefarious or less than legal doings. The blue vested head honchos at Walmart paid out $2.1 million in penalties and costs in California last year as a result of allegations in 2005 that they were charging customers higher prices than advertised for merchandise.
This latest legal entanglement for the champions of cheap could take years to settle out as well, and is complicated by the fact that Walmart already has the suspicious and sweet advantage of a 1 percent discount on taxes that it pays to the state of Pennsylvania. Penn’s Woods might end up in an uproar, but can they really afford to forgo shopping at Walmart locations? Are there even alternative shopping options still available for them? As you may imagine, Walmart has released a statement saying that they do not believe that they have done anything wrong (or at least not anything explicitly illegal.)
