As we've discussed previously, almost exactly a year ago Public Citizen sued on behalf of Wisconsin consumer Cindy Cox after employees of an online retailer called Accessory Outlet threatened her with fines and derogatory credit reporting for saying that she would dispute a charge with her credit card company when her order had not arrived. The company further used threatening language, including the statement that Cox was "playing games with the wrong people and [had] made a very bad mistake."
After we sued, all four known websites of the parent company, Blue Professional, went down for "maintenance," and as of today, they are still down or could not be found online. The company never appeared to defend the case.
Today, the New York trial court entered a default judgment against the company, awarding treble damages and attorneys fees. So yes, there is recourse for bullying businesses. We cannot litigate them all, but it appears we shuttered these websites.
