Cleaners deny any wrongdoing
CITY HALL The owners of nine dry cleaners and laundry businesses in Santa Monica are being sued by the City Attorney’s Office for allegedly violating a state disclosure law designed to protect consumers against gender discrimination when it comes to pricing.
While most women know that a silk blouse costs more to clean than a men’s cotton dress shirt, it us up to dry cleaners to post their prices in plain view so that customers don’t get confused or ripped off.
Dry cleaners, hair salons, and other service oriented businesses must also post information about the California “Gender Discrimination Repeal Act,” which passed in 1996 and was designed to keep retail businesses honest in their pricing of services for men and woman. The law prohibits differential pricing for men and women unless there is a legitimate difference in the time, difficulty or cost of providing the service.
In addition, the law requires that three kinds of businesses that traditionally have had problems with gender price discrimination — tailors, dry cleaners, and hair salons — do three things: (1) Clearly post the prices for their 15 most-requested services. (2) Give customers a complete price list upon request. (3) Post a large anti-discrimination sign with prescribed language.
Deputy City Attorney Adam Radinsky with the Consumer Protection Unit said the nine businesses being sued failed to do just that, even after they were repeatedly informed about the law.
“This lawsuit is to make sure that all businesses follow the law,” Radinsky said. “Female customers shouldn’t have to wonder if they’re getting fair pricing when they go to the cleaners — or to the hair salon.”
The lawsuit is filed under the California Unfair Competition Law which prohibits businesses from engaging in any unfair or unlawful acts or practices.
The City Attorney’s Office is seeking an injunction against further violations and monetary penalties, which can be as high as $2,500 per violation.
In February 2007 the Consumer Protection Unit sent a courtesy letter to each of Santa Monica’s 48 cleaners and 91 hair salons advising them of the disclosure and posting requirements.
In April 2007 a follow-up inspection of 29 businesses chosen at random showed that none of the 29 were fully complying with the law. Radinsky said there were no complaints of discrimination. The lawsuit deals with the failure to post this required information.
The Consumer Protection Unit then wrote a second letter to the 29 businesses that were found in violation, reminding them of the law and warning of possible legal consequences if they continued in violation.
The letter brought positive results, Radinsky said. A follow-up inspection in October 2007 showed that 57 percent of the original violators (12 of the 21) now had the required signage and price lists available. However, nine of the 21 still were not fully complying with the three requirements — and some not at all.
A final inspection on May 2 showed that the same nine businesses still lacked the required signage and/or available price lists.
This lawsuit is filed against those nine businesses. They are: Metropolitan Cleaners, Executive Cleaners and Laundry, Dryclean Express, Santa Monica Cleaners, Yale Cleaners, TJ Cleaners and Tailor Shop, 16th Street Cleaners, Quality Express Cleaners, and Santa Monica Valet Shop.
“We are glad that most businesses eventually did the right thing and complied with the law once we told them the requirements,” Radinsky said. “The importance of the disclosure law is that it enables consumers to make sure they are being treated fairly. When you don’t have full disclosure, consumers are not able to check. There is a lot more mystery to the transaction.”
Some owners of the businesses being sued said they were surprised when they received notice of the lawsuit and believe they have done nothing wrong. They said it is impossible to list prices for every service given that there are so many different fabrics and styles of clothing.
“This is not a McDonalds,” said Michael Newman, owner of 16th Street Cleaners. “You are not selling Big Macs. There are 5,000 different combinations. We can’t list everything … Everything here is perfectly kosher.”
Owners said they do post the prices for the most common items cleaned and provide all customers with receipts. They believe City Hall is being too strict.
“We’ve been here for 25 years and nobody ever complained about this,” said Ray Ajnassian, manager of Dryclean Express. “We have nothing to do with bad business. We do everything legitimate.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 14, 2008. Read the original PDF.