LuLaRoe
December 5, 2023
U.S. District Judge Joshua M. Kindred of the District of Alaska on December 5, 2023 denied plaintiff Katie Van's renewed and amended motion for class certification in Van v. LLR, Inc., a suit accusing LuLaRoe of charging sales tax that Alaska buyers did not owe.
The case centers on LuLaRoe's Audrey point-of-sale system, which from 2015 to 2017 charged tax based on each retailer's location rather than the buyer's, so Alaskans who bought from out-of-state retailers paid tax they did not owe. LuLaRoe later issued refunds. Van sought to represent buyers who paid the tax and had no discount identified on the transaction, under Alaska's consumer protection law.
After the Ninth Circuit vacated an earlier class certification in March 2023, LuLaRoe submitted retailer declarations showing that many retailers offset the improper tax with discounts, free shipping, free products, credits or vouchers that were not consistently recorded on invoices. The court found that determining which buyers suffered an actual injury would require individual inquiries that would overwhelm common questions, though it rejected LuLaRoe's separate voluntary-payment argument. LuLaRoe sells clothing through independent fashion retailers.