Lowe’s Class Action Lawsuits: Settlements, Penalties, and Active Cases

Lowe’s has been the target of numerous class action lawsuits and government enforcement actions over the past two decades, covering deceptive pricing, false discount advertising, hidden delivery fees, unpaid wages, worker misclassification, lead paint safety failures, and disability discrimination. Settlements and penalties from these matters add up to well over $60 million, and several cases remain active in federal court.

Cases Still Active Against Lowe’s

“Free Delivery” Lawsuit

In 2026, plaintiff Emileigh Harmon filed Harmon v. Lowe’s Home Centers LLC (Case No. 3:26-cv-00119) in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. The complaint alleges that Lowe’s advertises delivery as “free” on its website while quietly building a delivery fee into the product price, so items bought through Lowes.com end up costing more than the same products purchased in a store.¹

Harmon brings claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and violations of the North Carolina Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act. She seeks to represent a nationwide class, with subclasses of North Carolina and Tennessee consumers who bought products through the Lowe’s website for delivery or pickup. The suit demands a jury trial and seeks compensatory, treble, and punitive damages.¹

False Discount Advertising

Two proposed class actions filed in 2024 accused Lowe’s of running what the plaintiffs called a “massive and consistent” false discount scheme, displaying inflated “Was” prices and fake limited-time sale dates to create the appearance of deep markdowns that did not actually exist.

The first case, Wright v. Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC (Case No. 5:24-cv-00237), was filed in the Western District of North Carolina and alleged violations of the Oregon Unlawful Trade Practices Act over strikethrough reference prices on Bali and Levolor blinds and shades, refrigerators, ranges, and dishwashers.² On September 15, 2025, Judge Kenneth D. Bell dismissed the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, finding the plaintiffs had not established standing to represent a broader class and could not meet the $5 million amount-in-controversy threshold without aggregating speculative claims from absent class members.³

A companion case, Lovell v. Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC (Case No. 5:24-cv-00238), raises similar allegations under California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act, False Advertising Law, and Unfair Competition Law. The Lovell plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial along with declaratory and injunctive relief.²

Johnson PAGA Appeal

In Johnson v. Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC, former employee Maria Johnson brought a California Private Attorneys General Act wage claim. She had signed a 2019 arbitration agreement, and the district court sent her individual PAGA claim to arbitration while dismissing her representative claims on behalf of other employees.

On February 12, 2024, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the order compelling arbitration of the individual claim but vacated the dismissal of the representative claims. Applying the California Supreme Court’s decision in Adolph v. Uber Technologies, the panel held that a worker whose individual PAGA claim goes to arbitration still has standing to pursue representative claims in court for other employees, and it rejected Lowe’s argument that this conflicts with the Federal Arbitration Act.⁴ Lowe’s sought U.S. Supreme Court review and obtained an extension to file a certiorari petition through August 31, 2024.⁵

California Price Overcharge Judgment

In September 2025, a coalition of six California district attorneys secured a judgment against Lowe’s for charging customers more than the lowest advertised or posted price. The civil case was led by the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office with Los Angeles, Sonoma, Orange, San Bernardino, and Alameda counties, and resolved through a stipulated judgment filed in San Diego County Superior Court on September 5, 2025.⁶

Investigators audited stores in ten California counties between 2018 and 2022 and found that 4.4 percent of items scanned higher than the posted shelf or advertised price, with the average overcharge running roughly 19.3 percent.⁷ Lowe’s agreed to pay $1 million in civil penalties plus roughly $90,000 in investigative costs and restitution, for a total near $1.09 million.⁸ The judgment also requires Lowe’s to adopt a new price accuracy policy, run additional internal audits, assign specific employees to oversee pricing accuracy, enhance staff training, and stop raising prices over weekends.⁹ Lowe’s did not admit liability and cooperated with investigators.

$12.5 Million Lead Paint Penalty

On November 25, 2025, the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency announced a $12.5 million settlement with Lowe’s over violations of the EPA’s Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting rule. The government alleged that contractors hired by Lowe’s failed to follow lead-safe work practices during renovations at more than 250 homes in 23 states, primarily between 2019 and 2021.¹⁰

The violations followed a 2014 consent decree meant to resolve similar problems. The EPA found that Lowe’s had failed to implement that earlier settlement’s compliance terms, with specific failures including not confirming that workers were certified renovators, not giving homeowners required lead hazard information, improper dust containment during renovations, and poor record-keeping.¹⁰

The new three-year consent decree requires Lowe’s to build an electronic system to verify installer certifications, use third-party software to confirm whether homes were built before 1978, conduct at least 4,000 jobsite inspections, distribute the EPA’s “Renovate Right” pamphlet to homeowners, and file annual implementation reports.¹⁰ The decree was lodged with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and, as of December 2025, remained subject to a public comment period and final court approval.¹¹

Wage-and-Hour Settlements

Lowe’s has been a frequent defendant in employee pay cases. By one tally, the company has faced at least a dozen wage-and-hour enforcement actions totaling more than $53 million in penalties and settlements.¹²

The largest of those was a $29.5 million settlement approved by the Los Angeles Superior Court in September 2009, resolving claims from thousands of hourly employees who said they were required to work before and after their scheduled shifts without pay. Lowe’s denied the allegations but settled on the eve of trial.¹³

A more recent off-the-clock case ended in November 2022 with a combined $9.95 million recovery for roughly 2,574 hourly managers who alleged unpaid work related to store opening and closing procedures and exterior building sweeps. Filed originally in April 2019 in the Western District of North Carolina, the case drew in 19 additional class actions consolidated there by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, while another 184 managers pursued claims through individual arbitration. Lowe’s also agreed to change its timekeeping system and compensation policies.¹⁴

In Shephard v. Lowe’s HIW Inc. (No. 4:12-cv-03893, N.D. Cal.), home improvement installers argued they were treated as independent contractors while Lowe’s controlled nearly every aspect of their work, including which customers they served, mandatory company-branded shirts and hats, and how they collected payment. A federal judge granted final approval to a $6.5 million settlement in January 2015.¹⁵

Not every wage claim has succeeded. A separate group of non-exempt employees sued Lowe’s for allegedly leaving a one-time “tax-reform bonus” and payments under a volunteer program called “Give Back Time” out of overtime calculations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Fourth Circuit affirmed dismissal of those claims in June 2021, holding that the bonuses were excludable gifts tied to a special occasion and that the volunteer program was optional and not compensable work.¹⁶

EEOC Disability Discrimination Case

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Lowe’s over a company policy that automatically terminated employees after they used up a fixed number of leave days, initially 180 and later 240. The EEOC alleged this “rigid, inflexible” policy violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to consider reasonable accommodations such as extended leave for workers with disabilities. The case covered thousands of employees terminated between January 2004 and May 2010.¹⁷

Lowe’s agreed to pay $8.6 million under a four-year consent decree approved by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The company also agreed to hire an ADA consultant to review its policies, train supervisors, build a centralized system to track accommodation requests, and submit regular compliance reports to the EEOC. Lowe’s made no admission of liability.¹⁷

1
Top Class Actions. Lowe’s Hit With Class Action Over Allegedly Deceptive Free Delivery Claims
2
Top Class Actions. Lowe’s Class Action Alleges False Discount Advertising Scheme
3
Justia. Wright et al v. Lowes Home Centers, LLC
4
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Johnson v. Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC, No. 22-16486
5
Supreme Court of the United States. Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC v. Johnson, No. 23A1119
6
LA County. Lowe’s Home Improvement Ordered to Pay $1 Million for Price Overcharges
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LA County District Attorney. Lowe’s Home Improvement Ordered to Pay $1 Million for Price Overcharges
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San Bernardino County District Attorney. Lowe’s Settles Price Overcharging Allegations, Pays Nearly $1.1 Million in Civil Complaint
9
Local News Matters. Lowe’s to Pay Nearly $1.1 Million to Settle False Advertising, Overcharging Claims
10
U.S. EPA. Lowe’s Home Centers LLC RRP 2025 Settlement Summary
11
U.S. Department of Justice. Lowe’s Home Centers to Pay $12.5M Penalty for Lead Paint Violations During Home Renovations
12
Good Jobs First Violation Tracker. Lowe’s Violation Tracker
13
Law360. Lowe’s Settles Overtime Class Action for $29.5M
14
Sommers Schwartz. $9,950,000 Settlement for Lowe’s Hourly Managers Who Alleged Unpaid Off-the-Clock Work
15
Bloomberg Law. Lowe’s Pays $6.5 Million to Settle Contractor Misclassification Lawsuit
16
ClassAction.org. Lowe’s Illegally Excluded Bonuses, Volunteer Time From Overtime Calculations, Lawsuit Claims
17
EEOC. Lowe’s to Pay $8.6 Million to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit