Blakemore

SUMMARY

This is a class action lawsuit filed against Avon Products, Inc. by women who sell or sold beauty products for Avon as independent sales representatives. The sales representatives allege that Avon shipped them products they did not order and, when they returned and paid for the unordered products, Avon refused to credit their accounts and engaged in various other practices to dissuade them from returning unordered products. They allege causes of action for fraudulent concealment, breach of contract and unfair business practices, among others. Avon successfully demurred to several causes of action and successfully moved to strike the class action allegations of the complaint, resulting in two writ petitions and an appeal by the sales representatives.

We conclude that both the writ petitions and the appeal have merit. In the unpublished portion of this opinion, we find:

In the published portion, we conclude:

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Raven Blakemore and several other women (collectively, Blakemore plaintiffs) who sell or sold beauty products as independent sales representatives for Avon Products, Inc. brought a class action lawsuit against Avon. The…