Labor & Employment

New York - The Deloitte Consumer Spending Index reached its highest point since November 2013, rising to 4.5 from 4 the prior month. The Index tracks consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending.    The Index comprises four components – tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages and real home prices. Highlights include:   Tax Burden: The tax rate has been effectively unchanged from the previous month at 11.8%.  

New York - A federal judge has ruled that customers suing Target for last year’s data breach may move forward with their claims.   U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson in St. Paul, Minn., dismissed claims by plaintiffs in certain states but largely denied Target's request to toss out the proposed class action lawsuit. Magnuson rejected Target's argument that the consumers lacked standing to sue because they could not establish any injury.  

  Goleta, Calif. - Deckers Brands has appointed Nelson Chan, chairman of the board of directors of Redbox and Coinstar parent company Outerwall, to the company's board of directors. Maureen Conners will step down from the Deckers board at year-end to pursue other activities.  

Kraft Foods Group Inc. says that CEO Tony Vernon plans to retire later this month, and the company has named Chairman John Cahill as his successor.

Vernon will retire on Dec. 27, the last day of the company's fiscal year. He will stay on as a senior adviser through March 31 and as a director until the company's next annual meeting in 2015.

Cary, N.C. – Canadian convenience store conglomerate Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., which operates stores under the Circle K banner in the U.S., has agreed to purchase The Pantry Inc., operator of the Kangaroo Express convenience/fuel chain, for $1.7 billion. Purchase price includes $861 million in cash and about $840 million in assumed debt.  

Dallas - For the first time since its founding in 1989, affiliated Dallas-based commercial real estate services firms The Weitzman Group and Cencor Realty Services has a new chief executive.    Marshall Mills, previously the firm’s COO, has been promoted to CEO.  He takes the reins from company founder and longtime CEO, Herbert D. Weitzman, who will now serve as executive chairman of the statewide retail-focused commercial real estate services firm.  

Dov Charney, the controversial founder of American Apparel, has been fired "for cause" as CEO, the company said.

Charney was suspended as president and CEO of the hipster apparel chain in June for alleged misconduct and violations of company policy. The decision was made by the board’s “suitability committee,” which was formed to oversee an internal investigation in the wake of Charney's suspension.

A fresh round of unionization efforts appear to be in store for major retailers next spring after organized labor won a favorable ruling regarding how elections are conducted.