A proposed class action lawsuit was filed last March against fashion retailer Hanna Anderson, accusing the latter of giving out fake discounts under false time limits to push shoppers into buying its items.

The presiding judge issued a case management order on June 24, laying down the schedule and procedures for the case. The lawsuit was filed by two Portland residents named Carly Hudson and Jocelyn Pascall.

The lawsuit alleged the retailer has been engaging in a scheme since October 2019 where it advertises “perpetual or near-perpetual discounts” of up to 60 percent off. The plaintiffs allege that the discounts were fake because the items were almost never offered at their listed original price.

Hanna Anderson used “limited-time discounts” to push consumers to buy immediately, lest they miss out on a deal. This deceptive scheme drums up artificial demand for its products by making shoppers believe they were buying items that would only be on sale for a short time.

“Hanna Andersson’s deceptive pricing scheme is intended to trick consumers into believing that its products are worth, and have a market value equal to, the inflated list price, and that the lower advertised ‘sale’ price represents a special bargain,” a copy of the filing read.

“Hanna Andersson perpetrates this illegal scheme in order to induce consumers to purchase its products and to charge more for its products than it otherwise could have charged,” it added.

For example, the lawsuit noted on March 23 this year, the retailer’s website said there were only “hours left” for its big spring sale, which saw items listed at discounts up to 40 percent.

“Seeing this, a reasonable consumer would believe he or she needed to act quickly to take advantage of this sale before the ‘event’ ends and the items return to their normal prices,” the plaintiffs’ lawyers said.

Then on March 24, the next day, the products kept the same discounted prices they had during the “Big Spring Sale”, except this time it was for a new sales event: Easter.

The lawyers, citing their own big-data analysis of millions of data points, said their research showed that “since October 2019, Hanna Andersson advertised perpetual or near-perpetual discounts for the overwhelming majority of the products that it offered on its website.”

“Hanna Andersson’s false discount advertising is so pervasive across all its products and all its advertising that it is apparent that the heart of Hanna Andersson’s marketing plan is to deceive the public,” they said.

As of publication, the judge has not yet certified the case as a class action, which federal law requires to meet certain standards, such as proving the scale and commonality of the harm.