Lawsuit of the week!

New Jersey Woman Has Second Thoughts Over $5M Suit for 80-Cent Dispute

February 18, 2011

Hugh Collins Contributor

A New jersey woman who sued the Century 21 department store for $5 million for allegedly depriving her of 80 cents on a coupon has decided not to go to court after all.

Tova Gerson, 32, had alleged that the department store "unjustly enriched" itself with the coupon, according to the New York Post, and filed a $5 million class-action lawsuit in Manhattan.

In another set of court papers, Gerson dropped the suit, according to the New York Daily News.

Saying Century 21 ripped her off when she returned an item using a coupon, Tova Gerson had filed a $5 million lawsuit that she has since dropped."The plaintiff, Tova Gerson, and her counsel ... give notice that the above-captioned action is voluntarily dismissed, with prejudice, against the defendant," according to the court document. (New York Daily News)

Gerson had said she used a coupon that was good for a $5 discount on a purchase of $50 or more during a Jan. 10 shopping trip.

She said she paid $106.82 for goods including a child's dress and faux-suede moccasins at Century 21's store in Paramus, N.J. She used her coupon to get five bucks off the purchases.

On January 19, she tried to return a kid's ensemble priced at $17.97. Century 21 allegedly refunded her a mere $17.17, because she had used a coupon in the purchase.

Sponsored Links"By pro-rating the $5.00, the plaintiff lost the amount of $0.80 she would have been entitled to as part of a coupon she used," the original lawsuit said, according to the New York Daily News.

Gerson declined to comment to both the Post and the Daily News.

The suit wasn't the first time that Gerson's family has taken on big retailers in court over coupons. Her lawyer father, Harry Katz, has sued retailers including Dick's Sporting Goods, Casual Male and The Children's Place, The New York Post said.