Business
Estée Lauder sues Walmart alleging ‘despicable’ sale of counterfeit beauty products
Walmart Inc. signage during the company’s listing at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Estée Lauder sued Walmart in California federal court over allegations the big-box retailer sold counterfeit beauty products on its website and didn’t do enough to ensure only authorized and authentic merchandise was offered to consumers.
Estée Lauder said it purchased, inspected or tested a number of products sold on Walmart.com that used the Le Labo, La Mer, Clinique, Aveda, Tom Ford and Estée Lauder trademarks but were determined to be fakes, according to the suit, filed Monday.
The products include counterfeit versions of Estée Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair serum, a Le Labo fragrance, a Clinique eye cream, a La Mer lotion, an Aveda hair brush and a Tom Ford fragrance.
xemplars of the Estée Lauder Accused Products
U.S. District Court Complaint
It’s unclear when Estée Lauder bought and tested the products but the suit comes several months after CNBC published an investigation into counterfeit beauty products and fraud on Walmart.com.
Two of the counterfeit products cited in CNBC’s investigation — Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair serum and Clinique Smart Clinical Repair Wrinkle Correcting Eye Cream — were also mentioned in Estée Lauder’s lawsuit. It’s unclear if the products cited in the suit are the same counterfeits CNBC provided to Estée Lauder.
In response, Walmart initially told CNBC in a statement it requires “all sellers to offer only authentic, lawful merchandise” and it doesn’t tolerate “bad actors” on its platform. It then recalled the message and sent an abbreviated statement to CNBC two hours later that removed that language.
“We are aware of the complaint and have zero tolerance for counterfeit products,” the revised statement read. “We will respond appropriately with the court when we are served.”
Estée Lauder didn’t return a request for comment.
Exemplars of the Clinique Accused Products
U.S. District Court Complaint
While the products were sold by third-party sellers on Walmart’s online marketplace, Estée Lauder said the company played an active role in facilitating those sales to shoppers in its suit. The legacy beauty company called Walmart’s conduct “extreme, outrageous, fraudulent … despicable and harmful.”
The counterfeit products were promoted and advertised to shoppers on the platform, Estee Lauder’s trademarks were used in search engine optimization tools to drive traffic to the listings and Walmart profited from the sales, the complaint stated.
Further, “a person shopping on Walmart.com would have reasonably believed that Walmart, and not third-party sellers, was the seller” of the item, which could have caused confusion among shoppers, the complaint states.
At the heart of CNBC’s investigation into Walmart’s online marketplace was the steps the company took, or didn’t take, to vet its third-party sellers and the products they were offering to prevent fraud and the sale of fakes on the platform.
Exemplars of the La Mer Accused Products.
U.S. District Court Complaint
In its complaint, Estée Lauder said Walmart promoted the “reputation and professionalism” of the sellers permitted to operate on the platform but said the retailer actually does “very little to ensure that only authorized and authentic products are available” for sale.
“This is readily apparent given the [counterfeits] were permitted to be sold on Defendants’ website despite their stated careful selection process in who they choose as a Marketplace seller/partner,” the complaint states. “Accordingly, Defendants know or had reason to know that the sellers they partnered with and ‘regularly review[ed]’ were selling products which infringe upon the Estée Lauder Marks.”
Walmart’s online marketplace has become a key part of its strategy to grow profit faster than sales and better compete against its longtime rival, Amazon. The rapid growth of the online platform helped fuel Walmart’s ascent to a $1 trillion market cap last week, putting it in an exclusive club made up almost entirely of technology companies.
However, the strategy has come with risks, CNBC’s investigation revealed. Offering counterfeit, potentially dangerous, products to shoppers through third-party sellers on the marketplace opens Walmart up to liability and could erode the customer trust at the core of its brand.
Exemplars of the Le Labo Accused Products
U.S. District Court Complaint
Ever since a 2010 court ruling that arose after Tiffany sued eBay over counterfeit products on the platform, it can be tough for brands to hold platforms accountable for their role in selling counterfeit goods. Sometimes, they avoid lawsuits unless the conduct is extreme or particularly flagrant, experts previously told CNBC.
The Shop Safe Act, a bipartisan federal bill that aims to curb the sale of fakes on online marketplaces, is designed to address some of the issues posed by the Tiffany v. eBay ruling by incentivizing platforms to better vet sellers and the products they’re offering. When platforms comply with certain anti-counterfeiting measures, they could be shielded from liability if a seller offers a fake product.
Brands widely supported the legislation, but it has so far failed to pass at least three times. That’s partially because Walmart and other online marketplaces like Amazon, Etsy and eBay have lobbied against aspects of it, two U.S. Senate aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the discussions were private, previously told CNBC.
A United Airlines plane approaches the runway at Denver International Airport on March 23, 2026.
Al Drago | Getty Images
United Airlines flight attendants approved a new five-year labor contract with 31% average raises to base pay by August and other improvements, marking the last of the major carriers with unionized flight crews to reach a deal post-Covid.
The labor deal would give United’s roughly 30,000 flight attendants their first raises in close to six years. The company and the flight attendants’ union reached a preliminary deal in March. Crews had rejected a contract last year.
The union said the contract won 82% approval from the flight attendants, with close to 90% of them voting.
“The contract will immediately change the lives of United Flight Attendants, especially our thousands of new hires who have been hired since the pandemic,” said Ken Diaz, president of the United chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants.
The contract also includes boarding pay, or pay for when the aircraft’s door is open and travelers are getting on. Airlines had for years started flight attendants’ pay clock once the boarding door was closed.
The contract comes with a roughly 7% to 8% increase in compensation and $741 million in back pay, as well as quality-of-life improvements like restrictions on red-eye flights and “sit pay” during disruptions of more than 2½ hours.
Joni Lamb, the president of Daystar Television Network, a televangelism broadcaster she founded with her husband, Marcus Lamb, turning their family into stars of Christian entertainment, died on Thursday. She was 65.
In an announcement posted on Daystar’s website, the company described the cause as “serious health matters” exacerbated by a recent back injury. It did not say where she died.
On a trip to Jerusalem in 1983, shortly after the couple married, Mr. Lamb visited the Mount of Olives and felt God telling him to move to Montgomery, Ala., and start a Christian TV station. He and Ms. Lamb poured their energy and modest finances into the effort and began appearing on the air two years later.
By the time they founded Daystar — in Texas in 1997 — they were experienced entrepreneurs and performers. After just a few years, they owned 24 stations around the country. By 2010, they had become the second-largest Christian broadcaster, after Trinity Broadcasting Network, and were reaching more than 200 countries, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Compared with other televangelists, the Lambs “are younger and come across as more ordinary folks,” David Clark, the president of a rival Christian broadcaster, told The Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 2001. “They come across as being sincere.”
Mr. Clark added: “Marc is sharp, and his wife, Joni, is a big asset.”
The Lambs frequently appeared on their own network in a talk show format, discussing the pleasures and challenges of domestic life in a Christian idiom. Ms. Lamb, who liked to break into song, was Daystar’s leading talk show host, over the decades moderating shows like “Taking a Break With Joni” and “Joni Table Talk.” She would often be surrounded by other female regulars, putting questions to a male guest who had wisdom to impart.
The prominent pastor Jentezen Franklin visited earlier this year, for example, to discuss his new book, “The Power of Short Prayers.” The conversation slipped easily into evangelism.
“For someone watching right now: You’ve been listening; God’s opened your heart,” Ms. Lamb said. “In fact, your heart’s already been opened for some time, as you’ve been looking, searching, and you tried everything else. Always say, ‘Why don’t you try Jesus?’ A simple prayer: That will change your life for eternity.”
During the episode she was flanked, as she often was, by her two daughters, Rachel Lamb Brown and Rebecca Lamb Weiss, and referred to her husband by his first name, as if the viewers at home were family friends.
In 2021, Mr. Lamb died, at 64, of Covid-19, after having frequently suggested that people should pray instead of getting vaccinated. Ms. Lamb announced his death on air.
The travails of the Lamb family were often incorporated into the station’s programming. In 2010, Mr. Lamb admitted on live TV to an extramarital affair and described an attempt to extort millions of dollars in blackmail.
“Christian TV took a soap opera turn,” The Dallas Morning News wrote of the episode.
In 2020, Daystar returned a $3.9 million Paycheck Protection Program loan after the CBS program “Inside Edition” investigated the company’s purchase of a Gulfstream jet used by the Lamb family for beach and golf trips.
Four years later, a panel of Ms. Lamb’s talk show regulars questioned her on air about an accusation by her son, Jonathan, that there had been a coverup of a family member’s sexual molestation of his infant daughter. Ms. Lamb denied that any abuse had occurred, and after an investigation, no charges were filed.
Joni Lynn Trammell was born on July 19, 1960, in Greenville, S.C., where she grew up. Her father, Billy Frank Trammell, worked for a local refrigeration and heating company and would evangelize with friends he made playing basketball. Her mother, Sandra (Hudson) Trammell, competed in the Miss Greenville beauty pageant.
The Lambs met at a Greenville church in 1980, when Mr. Lamb, a traveling Pentecostal preacher, was visiting. They married in 1982.
Their early investments in TV stations came fortuitously, at a time of deregulation that The Star-Telegram would describe as “market bottom.” They later made money buying and selling small broadcast towers, and selling airtime to ministries and churches.
In 2023, Ms. Lamb married Doug Weiss, a sex therapist who became a co-host on Daystar. He survives her; other survivors include her three children and several grandchildren.
On air earlier this year, Ms. Lamb told viewers that the Christian faith guaranteed a posthumous reward.
“When you pray that prayer, and you receive Jesus, he forgives your sins,” she said. “When you die, you’re going to heaven.”
Business
US consumer price inflation hits 3.8% in April, highest in nearly 3 years as Iran war fuels energy costs – The Times of India
US inflation rose in April to 3.8 per cent as surging fuel costs amid the ongoing Iran-US conflict drove up consumer prices, hitting a three-year high complicating the Federal Reserve’s path on interest rates.Data released by the Labor Department on Tuesday showed the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 0.6 per cent in April after a 0.9 per cent jump in March, the biggest monthly rise since June 2022. On an annual basis, inflation accelerated to 3.8 per cent, marking the highest year-on-year increase, since May 2023.Petrol prices in the US are now more than 28 per cent higher than a year ago, according to official data. AAA estimates show average gasoline prices have crossed $4.50 per gallon, roughly 44 per cent above year-ago levels, squeezing household budgets and raising concerns about broader economic fallout.The spike in energy prices follows the escalation of hostilities between the US, Israel and Iran earlier this year. Markets were rattled after Tehran blocked access through the Strait of Hormuz — a critical global energy route that handles nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.Core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, remained relatively contained. Core CPI rose 0.4 per cent month-on-month and 2.8 per cent annually, suggesting that higher fuel costs have not yet fully spread across the wider economy.Food prices also edged higher in April. Grocery costs rose 0.7 per cent from March, led by increases in meat prices after a slight decline in the previous month.The latest inflation reading adds to uncertainty for the Federal Reserve, which had earlier been expected to begin cutting interest rates in 2026. Policymakers are now signalling caution amid fears that prolonged geopolitical tensions and elevated oil prices could trigger another wave of inflation.US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised the Fed for not lowering borrowing costs faster to support economic growth. Attention is now turning to Kevin Warsh, Trump’s nominee to succeed outgoing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, whose Senate confirmation is expected this week.Higher fuel costs are also beginning to weigh on corporate America. Appliance maker Whirlpool Corporation said last week that quarterly revenue fell nearly 10 per cent, warning that the war-driven economic slowdown had severely dented consumer confidence.
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