State of NY sues Tempur-Pedic over Pricing

According to "Furniture Today", the State of New York is suing Tempur-Pedic for violating state law on pricing, because the prohibit dealers from discounting which has resulting in uniformly high retail prices. They further have a stated policy that they will not do business with any dealer that charges retail prices that differ from those set by Tempru-Pedic.

You have to wonder why Mark Savary, CEO of Tempru-Pedic let this go that far? Its terribly damaging in terms of customer relations. I wonder if he's just confused at to what is legal and what is not? Maybe he needs a better attorney....(Aaron, Client Opportunity!)

In a June 2007 decision, Leegin Creative Leather Products Inc. v. PSKS Inc, ths US Supreme Court determined that it is LEGAL for a manufacturer to determine a minimum selling price for their product, which is not the same as what Tempur Pedic has done by setting a demand price. So, T-P can say "You can sell that queen set for anything you like but no lower than $ 2,000", and that's different than saying "You Must Sell it at $ 2,000 as that's our fixed price". It gets you to the same point, actually - but one allows float up from the minimum, the other doesn't.

And of course, we all know a State Law cannot override a Supreme Court law.