Legislative, Regulatory & Legal

Menomonee Falls, Wis. – Bernstein Liebhard has filed a securities class-action complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of all those who purchased shares of Kohl's Corp. between Feb. 26, 2009. and Sept. 13, 2011.

Atlanta – The Home Depot is recalling about 107,000 Chinese-made fan heaters because the fan's plastic housing can melt, deform and catch fire during use, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The Soleil portable fan heaters, marked with model number LH-707, cost about $15 each, and Home Depot will issue a full refund for the purchase price.

The heaters were sold between September 2012 and May 2013 for about $15 each. The CPSC says there have been 464 reports of fans melting, but no injury or property damage has been reported.

By Jake Weatherly, [email protected]

New York -- Five individuals have been charged with running a sophisticated, worldwide hacking organization that the U.S. Department of Justice called the largest hacking and data breach scheme ever prosecuted in the United States. The victims in the scheme included such retailers as J.C. Penney, 7-Eleven Inc., Carrefour and Hannaford Brothers Co. 

VANCOUVER, B.C. – 99 Cents Only Stores is turning to ACL’s GRC solution to help the value retailer digitize its audit management procedures. 

By leveraging the internal audit management system, the retailer will replace spreadsheets and shared drives. Anticipated benefits include increased collaboration and visibility among team members, the ability to more easily perform risk assessments and scoring, and ease of workflow adjustment as new issues and risks are identified.

Product safety data sheets don’t get a lot of love in the retail industry, but major changes are underway that will make this formerly mundane document the cornerstone of numerous best practices.

Cleveland – The Federal Competition Commission of Mexico has voted not to authorize Sherwin Williams’ November 2012 acquisition of Mexico City-based home improvement retailer and paint producer Consorcio Comex, S.A. de C.V. Sherwin-Williams is reviewing the rationale for the commission's decision and says it expects to respond to the Commission's concerns in the near future.

San Jose Calif. -- Orchard Supply, which sought bankruptcy protection earlier this year, has won court approval of as much as $176.3 million in bankruptcy financing, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The U.S. bankruptcy court approved the loans that will help fund operations as Orchard pursues a sale of at least 60 of its 91 stores. Lowe’s Cos. has the lead offer of $205 million.