// Boohoo accused of offering fake discounts to customers
// The retailer is asking a Californian court to ditch a £79 million lawsuit
Boohoo has reportedly urged a US court to drop a $100 million (£79 million) lawsuit over allegations that it offered “fake” discounts to customers.
The online retailer, which owns PrettyLittleThing and Nasty Gal, has been accused of deceptive pricing by running fake sales and promotions to lure consumers.
Boohoo is facing allegations of offering heavy discounts based on inflated original prices which were not the initial prices it had asked customers to pay, The Telegraph reported.
READ MORE: Probe reveals “many failings” in Boohoo supply chain
One of the three court cases was filed in April but was not disclosed to investors ahead of a £197 million fundraising in May.
However, Boohoo has asked a Californian court this month to dismiss the class action.
Boohoo lawyers have argued that despite the allegations, the accusers had not said they were left “out of pocket”.
Boohoo also made a series of technical legal arguments, including that customers outside California should be excluded from the case.
Meanwhile, short-seller ShadowFall has accused the retailer of deflecting from the substance of the accusation.
Last week, a review of Boohoo’s supply chain identified “many failings”, but it freed it from allegations of deliberately allowing poor conditions and low pay for garment workers.
The independent probe was called after reporters uncovered serious concerns about some of Boohoo’s suppliers in Leicester over the summer, including allegations of modern slavery.
The Alison Levitt QC-headed review concluded that hat Boohoo “did not deliberately allow poor conditions and low pay to exist within its supply chain, it did not intentionally profit from them and its business model is not founded on exploiting workers in Leicester”.
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