A U.S. Judge in Seattle has ruled that Amazon.com must face a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging price gouging on food, medicine, and other essentials during the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik denied Amazon’s motion to dismiss, calling the company’s arguments “unpersuasive.” The court said it was reasonable to assume customers had “no meaningful choice but to buy from Amazon” due to product shortages and lockdown restrictions.
The lawsuit claims that Amazon failed to prevent third-party sellers from charging “flagrantly unlawful” prices and raised prices on its own products, with reported increases ranging from 233% on Aleve pain relief pills to 1,044% on Quilted Northern toilet paper and as high as 1,800% on face masks.
The complaint covers purchases made between January 31, 2020, and October 20, 2022, when emergency orders related to the pandemic ended in various jurisdictions. Plaintiffs’ attorney Steve Berman called the ruling “an important win for consumers,” citing internal Amazon documents that allegedly show the company was aware of the price-gouging activity. Amazon has not yet commented on the judgment. The case adds to ongoing scrutiny of the company’s marketplace practices, including pricing, antitrust compliance, and consumer protection, as regulators and courts continue to evaluate the operations of major e-commerce platforms during emergency conditions.
