Day: March 20, 2024

The luxury France-based brand Hermes on Tuesday had a proposed class action lawsuit lodged against it.

The lawsuit centered on the brand’s coveted Birkin handbags and took issue with how the company allegedly goes about selling them to customers.

Hermes has been selling Birkin bags since the ’80s. The bags, made of real leather, can carry eye-popping price tags upwards of $10,000, according to reports.

In the suit, it leveled allegations against Hermes of breaching a federal antitrust law as well as California antitrust and unfair competition laws through its purported “unlawful practice of tying the purchase of Defendants’ popular Birkin bags to the purchase of other Defendant’s luxury clothing and accessory items.”

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FOX Business reached out to a Hermes representative for comment on the suit.

The lawsuit asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to certify it as a class action. It also wants an injunction against Hermes for allegedly engaging in further “tying,” damages and other relief, according to the filing. 

Two plaintiffs, both of whom live in California, brought the complaint against the luxury brand. Both claimed to have had experiences in which they were told they needed to splash out on other Hermes items to potentially get the chance to acquire Birkins, per the lawsuit.

HERMES WINS CASE AGAINST ARTIST WHO SOLD NFTS OF BIRKIN BAGS

It alleged Hermes was “able to use their sales associate’s to implement Defendants’ illegal tying arrangement” through a compensation structure that purportedly involves employee commissions on non-Birkin merchandise.

The suit also claimed Hermes was “able to effectively increase the price of Birkin handbags and, thus, the profits that Defendants earn from Birkin handbags” though allegedly tying sales of the bags to other items.

In 2023, Business of Fashion reported Hermes said it “strictly prohibits any sales of certain products as a condition to the purchase of others.”

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On top of Birkin handbags, the French brand also sells a slew of other merchandise, such as clothing, scarves, shoes, jewelry and belts. It has equestrian origins.

Hermes had a market capitalization of 252.72 billion euros as of Wednesday afternoon.

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First time was a charm for a Baltimore man who recently won a $50,000 lottery jackpot — the first time he played the game.

The man, identified only as “Alex,” bought a $1 straight bet ticket for the Maryland Lottery’s “Pick 5” game on March 14, for the midday drawing, the website for the Maryland Lottery said in a March 19 news article. 

“I never played before and I couldn’t think of five random numbers, so I told the retailer to pick the numbers for me,” “Alex” told the Maryland Lottery website. 

“I wasn’t expecting to win anything.”

MARYLAND MAN WINS $50,000 IN LOTTERY WITH UNIQUE APPROACH TO NUMBERS

The winning numbers for Pick 5 games are drawn twice a day, seven days a week, says the Maryland Lottery website. The top prize, $50,000, is awarded for correctly picking five numbers in the order they are drawn. 

Alex and his friend purchased the ticket at the Niki Food Mart & Lottery in Baltimore, Maryland. He told the Maryland Lottery that he typically only buys lottery tickets if the Mega Millions or Powerball jackpots are high. 

On March 14, however, Alex bought a Pick 5 ticket after his friend suggested he do so. 

He then forgot to check the numbers — until he was getting gas a few days later. 

Alex asked an employee at the gas station to see if he had won anything, and was told his ticket was a “big winner” — but the employee at the gas station did not say how much he had won, just that it was too large of a win to be paid out at the store. 

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In Maryland, all lottery retailers can cash out prizes up to and including $600, says the Maryland Lottery website.

Confused, Alex then went to a casino in Maryland to attempt to claim his winnings. 

Maryland Lottery winners can claim prizes up to and including $25,000 at six casinos throughout the state. 

It was at this point that Alex received the news: While the casino would not be able to pay out his prize, it was because he had actually won $50,000. 

A prize that big has to be picked up at the Maryland Lottery’s headquarters in Baltimore, says the Maryland Lottery’s website. 

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“I thought it was a defective ticket because of the retailer not telling me how much it was, but when they told me [how much it was] at the casino, I almost fell out,” said Alex to the Maryland Lottery. 

“I could not believe what I was hearing.”

Alex said he kept a low profile at the casino and did not publicly celebrate his big win — but he did quickly make an appointment to pick up his prize. 

Now many thousands of dollars richer than he was before, Alex told the Maryland Lottery that he will pay off his bills and “spoil his wife.” 

He will also keep playing Pick 5 games, he said, now that he has won big. 

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“After something like this happens to you, you’ve got to feel more motivated to play and I plan to play more often,” he said. 

The Maryland Lottery was founded in 1973, says its website.

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Since that time, the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control agency has contributed $19.3 billion to the state of Maryland.

The Maryland Lottery had no additional comment. 

For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle.

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