Fashion Nova Inc. Settlements: FTC, DOJ, and California Actions

Fashion Nova settlements over the past several years cover four distinct fronts: a pending $5.15 million class action deal over website accessibility that the U.S. Department of Justice moved to block in February 2026, a $4.2 million Federal Trade Commission penalty for suppressing negative customer reviews, a $9.3 million FTC settlement over late shipments, a $1.75 million consumer protection settlement with four California district attorneys, and federal labor findings that garment workers in the company’s Los Angeles supply chain were paid below minimum wage.

The Accessibility Class Action and Why the DOJ Stepped In

The largest unresolved matter is Alcazar v. Fashion Nova, Inc., filed February 26, 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California before Judge Jon S. Tigar.¹ A legally blind plaintiff alleged that Fashion Nova’s website was incompatible with screen-reading software, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, which allows damages of up to $4,000 per violation.²

Fashion Nova agreed to a $5.15 million settlement fund. Eligible California class members who filed a valid claim by October 20, 2025 could receive a pro rata cash payment of up to $4,000 per household, with residual funds going to the American Foundation for the Blind. Nationwide class members outside California received no monetary compensation.³⁴ The amended agreement also required Fashion Nova to bring the site into substantial conformance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 within 180 days of the effective date, with carve-outs for user-generated content, third-party ads, and video descriptions.⁵

On February 2, 2026 the Department of Justice filed a Statement of Interest urging the court to reject the deal, acting under authority in the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005.⁶ The DOJ raised three objections. About $2.43 million would reach class members while plaintiffs’ lawyers sought more than $2.52 million in fees and costs, meaning counsel stood to collect more than the people the lawsuit was meant to help. The injunctive relief was called a “mere recitation” of Fashion Nova’s existing ADA obligations, without an enforcement mechanism.⁷ And the settlement notice website itself was inaccessible to people with vision disabilities.²

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said a class action under the ADA “should, above all else, secure greater accessibility for consumers with disabilities,” and that courts should be “skeptical of settlements that instead enrich private counsel.”⁶

The court had already denied preliminary approval of an earlier version of the settlement in December 2024.⁸ As of the most recent docket activity on May 6, 2026, no final approval hearing has been set.¹

$4.2 Million FTC Penalty for Hiding Negative Reviews

In January 2022 the FTC alleged that from late 2015 through November 2019, Fashion Nova used a third-party review platform to auto-publish reviews of four stars and above while routing lower-rated reviews into an approval queue where they were never posted. The agency said hundreds of thousands of negative reviews were suppressed.⁹ Fashion Nova denied the allegations, calling them “inaccurate and deceptive,” and said it settled to avoid the costs of litigation.¹⁰

The FTC finalized a consent order in March 2022 by a unanimous 4–0 vote. Fashion Nova paid $4.2 million and is now barred from suppressing reviews or misrepresenting endorsements. It must post all customer reviews for products it sells, with narrow exceptions for obscene, sexually explicit, racist, or unlawful content, and future violations carry penalties of up to $46,517 per infraction.¹¹⁹

$9.3 Million FTC Settlement Over Shipping Delays

A separate FTC action, settled in April 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, found that Fashion Nova had failed to ship orders on time, did not offer customers the option to cancel delayed orders, and issued gift cards instead of cash refunds, all in violation of the FTC’s Mail Order Rule. The company agreed to pay $9.3 million, with $7.04 million going to an FTC-administered refund fund and $2.26 million refunded directly by Fashion Nova.⁹

The FTC distributed over $6.5 million to 518,552 consumers at roughly $12.60 each, including more than 40,000 recipients in 169 countries outside the United States. A second round in 2023 sent nearly $2.4 million to another 148,351 consumers who filed valid claims before an August 2023 deadline.¹²

$1.75 Million California Consumer Protection Settlement

In December 2019, Fashion Nova settled a civil consumer protection action brought by the district attorneys of Alameda, Los Angeles, Napa, and Sonoma counties. The complaint alleged the company repeatedly failed to ship online orders within the 30-day window required by state law, failed to send required delay notices offering customers a refund, and did not adequately disclose its return policy.¹³

Approved by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Tara Desautels, the deal required Fashion Nova to pay $250,000 in direct restitution to affected customers and $1.5 million in penalties and costs, for a total of $1.75 million. The company also agreed to change its shipping and disclosure practices and was enjoined from further violations. Fashion Nova did not admit wrongdoing.¹⁴

Wage Findings in the Los Angeles Supply Chain

A December 2019 investigation by The New York Times reported that the U.S. Department of Labor had identified Fashion Nova in 50 investigations over four years involving Los Angeles garment factories that failed to pay the federal minimum wage or overtime.¹⁵¹⁶¹⁷

Fashion Nova’s general counsel called any suggestion that the company was responsible for underpaying workers “categorically false,” saying the brand requires its more than 700 vendors to sign agreements to comply with California law. Under company policy, a first violation triggers a six-month probationary period and a second results in termination.¹⁷ A Department of Labor spokesperson said there was no active investigation specifically targeting the brand, though the name appeared repeatedly in factory-level enforcement actions.¹⁸

A separate assessment by the California Labor Commissioner reviewed ten wage-theft cases tied to Fashion Nova’s supply chain and ordered the company to pay roughly $409,600 in owed wages. As of September 2021, only about $25,000 had been collected.¹⁹

1
CourtListener. Alcazar v. Fashion Nova, Inc.
2
Lainey Feingold Legal. Fashion Nova Settlement
3
FashionNovaAccessibilitySettlement.com. Alcazar v. Fashion Nova, Inc. Settlement
4
PR Newswire. Fashion Nova Class Action Settlement Notice
5
Lainey Feingold Legal. Amended Settlement Agreement and Release
6
U.S. Department of Justice. Department of Justice Opposes Unfair Class Action Settlement Involving Accessibility of Website
7
U.S. Department of Justice. Alcazar v. Fashion Nova Inc.
8
Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Alcazar v. Fashion Nova, Inc.
9
Federal Trade Commission. Fashion Nova Will Pay $4.2 Million as Part of Settlement of FTC Allegations It Blocked Negative Reviews
10
dot.LA. Fashion Nova Blocked Negative Reviews
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Federal Trade Commission. FTC Finalizes Order Against Fashion Nova Over Allegations It Blocked Negative Reviews
12
Federal Trade Commission. Fashion Nova Settlement Refunds
13
Sonoma County District Attorney. Consumer Protection Settlement With Fashion Nova Inc.
14
CBS News San Francisco. Fashion Nova Settles Consumer Protection Lawsuit Over Return and Shipping Delays
15
The New York Times. Fashion Nova’s Secret: Underpaid Workers in Los Angeles Factories
16
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. USA: Federal Investigation Finds Garment Workers Producing for Fashion Nova Underpaid
17
Refinery29. Fashion Nova Unlawful Working Conditions
18
Apparel News. Fashion Nova Explains DOL Investigation
19
Remake. Fashion Nova Tops List of Wage Theft Violators in California’s Garment Sector