Legal Question in Business Law in Georgia

Small-business closing

I work in a consignment store and the owners of the business have recently decided to close the store (end the busines completely). They did not inform the consignors and only informed me and the other employees at the last minute. They (the owners) decided to lower the prices of the items in the store without informing the consignors (who are the ones who set the prices of the items we sell), although at the beginning of their agreements with the business, the consignors were informed in writing that the owners could change prices without the consignors' consent. They also decided that any items not picked up by their respective consignors by a certain date will be kept by the owners. Again, they chose not to tell the consignors. We, the employees, have tried to inform the consignors of these issues (including but not limited to running an ad in the local newspaper for eight days), but we have bot been able to get the information to all of them, and some items sold at these reduced prices before the consignors knew about it. Now, some consignors are talking about filing a class-action law-suit against the owners. Is this possible? Also, what should (or should HAVE) the owners done? Thank you.


Asked on 3/04/05, 3:12 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Glenn M. Lyon, Esq. MacGREGOR LYON, LLC, Business Attorneys

Re: Small-business closing

Class action lawsuits are only available when the courts decide that filing each case individually would be judicial inefficient. So, whether a class action versus individual lawsuits would be allowed is a factual decision. The owners would need to file suit in state/superior court, or magistrate (small claims) court if the amount of damages is less than $15,000. The case in smalls claims court can be handle pro se (without an attorney), but I wouldn�t recommend pro se representation for a case in state or superior court.

If you would like to discuss any issues further, please feel free to contact my office. My contact information is below. Thank you.

The foregoing is general information only, not specific legal advice. No attorney/client relation has been created or should be implied.

Glenn M. Lyon, Esq

MacGregor Lyon, LLC

Promenade II

1230 Peachtree Street NE

Suite 1900

Atlanta Georgia 30309

Phone 404.942.3545

Fax 404.795.0993

[email protected]

www.macgregorlyon.com

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Answered on 3/07/05, 4:42 pm


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