A class action lawsuit filed against Avon Products, Inc. for unfair business practices, fraud and breach of contract was reinstated by the California Court of Appeal earlier this month.

The lawsuit, filed January 23, 2004, on behalf of women who sell or sold beauty products for Avon, charges that Avon engages in channel stuffing, in which Avon forces products on its sales representatives by deliberately shipping them products they did not order, or products far in excess of the quantities the ordered.

“The Court of Appeal’s decision is a tremendous victory for Avon Ladies,” Jeffrey Huron, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, said. “Without the possibility of a class action, Avon Ladies, who are ordinary women trying to make ends meet, would be defenseless against Avon’s illegal channel stuffing practices.”

The suit also alleges that Avon falsely denies receiving the returned products from its sales representatives, coerces the representatives to accept and pay for unordered products rather than return them for credit; unfairly requires the representatives to pay the return shipping costs; revokes its policy of “instant credit” and requires the representatives to pay for unordered products until Avon completes its lengthy return process; refuses to ship any further products until the representatives pay for their entire orders in advance, which most cannot afford to do; threatens to terminate the representatives’ businesses if they persist in returning unordered products for credit; and, when representatives quit or are terminated, submits claims to collection agencies based on unordered products that were returned to Avon in order to harass the representatives into paying monies they do not owe.

The size of the nationwide class action is estimated in the thousands.

In restating the class action allegations, the Court of Appeal ruled that “if the class representatives prove Avon engaged in the practices alleged … The class members need only show they are members of the class — representatives who paid for unordered products they returned — and the amount of their damages.” The fact that each sales representative may have to independently establish her damages does not prohibit the class from being certified, plaintiffs� attorneys said in a statement.

(via Business Wire)