JCPenney Class Action Lawsuit: Are JCPenney's Sales Real?
Is JCPenney's "Regular Price" Ever the Real Price? We Filed a Class Action Over JCPenney's Discounts
If you've shopped at JCPenney, you've seen it: a crossed-out "regular price," a lower "sale" price, a "% off" badge, and a coupon code on top of that. Much of the store seems to be discounted, all the time. Warren Terzian LLP has filed a class action lawsuit alleging that those discounts aren't real—that the "regular price" JCPenney crosses out is a price it almost never actually charges, so the "sale" price isn't a sale. It's just the price.
If you purchased from jcpenney.com or from a JCPenney store while living in California and are interested in exploring your rights to recover money, please tell us about your purchases using the form on our JCPenney class action page.
Why is JCPenney always having a sale?
That question is the heart of our lawsuit.
A sale only means something if the item was actually sold at the higher price. When you see "reg. $40.00" crossed out next to "$22.39," that display tells you two things: this item normally sells for $40, and today you're saving almost half. That perceived bargain is often the reason people buy—and buy now.
Our complaint alleges that at JCPenney, the "regular price" isn't regular. We allege that JCPenney's merchandise is never, or almost never, offered at the reference price it displays, so the advertised discount is illusory. And we allege that JCPenney layers coupon codes on top—our complaint counts 142 different discount codes issued between September 2023 and June 2024, many of them sitewide and many of them stackable—so that even the rare item not marked "sale" is still sold below its ticketed price. A discount from a price nobody pays is not a discount.
JCPenney's own Statement of Business Ethics says the company must be "fair and honest in everything we do." Our complaint alleges its pricing isn't.
What our investigation found
Before filing, we used price-tracking software to pull 120 days of pricing history for items on jcpenney.com and compared the prices actually offered against the "regular" or "original" price each item was supposedly discounted from. For every item we analyzed, the merchandise was never offered at the reference price during those four months.
One example from our complaint: the Xersion Mens Workout Pant, from JCPenney's own Xersion athletic brand. JCPenney displayed a reference price of $40.00. But from late January through late May 2024, the pants actually sold for between $19.19 and $32.00. Never $40. Even at its highest point—$32—the price was still 20% below the "regular" price, and it spent most of those four months between $19 and $24. In a JCPenney store, the same pants carried a $40 price tag and sat on a rack advertising a "sale" from the "reg. $40.00" price.
The pattern held across the Xersion line. A women's Xersion cropped legging with a $40 reference price sold for $19 to $32. A Xersion sports bra with a $54 reference price sold for $17.49 to $43.20. None of them ever sold at the "regular" price.
It also held for Okie Dokie, the baby and toddler line sold at JCPenney. A toddler dress with an $18 retail price sold for $6.99 to $14.40 over four months. A boys' romper listed at $20 sold for $6.99 to $17. And on June 14, 2024, we counted every Okie Dokie item for sale on jcpenney.com—655 of them—and every single one was advertised as discounted from its retail price, either through a crossed-out price or a coupon code JCPenney itself posted on the product page.
Our client's own purchase looked like this: two Okie Dokie baby bodysuits, each shown as "was $8.00," on sale for $5.99, with a 25% coupon code bringing the price to $4.49. The complaint alleges the $8.00 "was" price was never the real price to begin with.
Does California law prohibit fake "regular prices"?
Yes. California has protected consumers from phony discounts for decades. Our complaint alleges that JCPenney's pricing violates:
The False Advertising Law (Business & Professions Code §§ 17500, 17501), which prohibits advertising a "former price" unless it was the prevailing market price within the prior three months, or the ad clearly states when that price actually prevailed; and
The Unfair Competition Law (Business & Professions Code § 17200), which prohibits unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent business practices—including practices that violate the False Advertising Law, the Consumers Legal Remedies Act's ban on false statements about the "existence of, or amounts of, price reductions" (Civil Code § 1770(a)(13)), and the Federal Trade Commission's Guides Against Deceptive Pricing.
Those FTC Guides put it plainly: a former price is a legitimate basis for advertising a discount only if it's the actual, bona fide price at which the item was offered on a regular basis for a reasonably substantial period. When the former price is fictitious, the "reduced" price is "probably just the seller's regular price." (16 C.F.R. § 233.1.)
The idea behind these laws is simple: when a retailer tells you an item is discounted from its regular price, that has to be true. If it isn't, the retailer has manufactured a false sense of value—and a false sense of urgency—to get your money. We've written before about how fake sales violate California law.
JCPenney disputes our allegations, and the court hasn't decided them.
This isn't JCPenney's first fake-discount lawsuit
As our complaint notes, JCPenney has been here before. In 2015, JCPenney paid $50 million to settle a separate class action—brought by other lawyers—alleging nearly identical false reference pricing on merchandise sold to California shoppers. Our complaint alleges the practice continues.
Who does the lawsuit cover?
Our lawsuit—Zhang v. Penney OpCo LLC, No. 24STCV15961, pending in Los Angeles County Superior Court—proposes a class of California residents who, since December 7, 2020, purchased from JCPenney one or more items advertised as discounted from the retail price, whether from jcpenney.com or in a JCPenney store, and who haven't received a refund or credit for the purchase. As of September 2026, the court hasn't yet determined whether to certify a class.
One thing many people don't realize: you don't need to sign up to be part of a class. If a class is certified and there's a recovery, class members are covered automatically.
Then why contact us? We're looking for additional class representatives.
Every class action is led by class representatives—real customers who stand up for everyone else in the case. A class representative is named in the lawsuit, stays informed as it moves forward, reviews key filings, and may sit for a deposition. Their job is to make sure the class's interests come first.
We're potentially looking for additional class representatives for this case. The strongest candidates are California residents who:
bought something from jcpenney.com or a JCPenney store since December 2020;
bought it while it was advertised as discounted from a "regular," "original," or "was" price—a crossed-out price, a "% off" badge, or a coupon code applied at checkout;
kept the item rather than returning it for a refund or store credit;
still have the order confirmation email, receipt, or jcpenney.com account order history; and
would be comfortable being named in a lawsuit and staying involved as it proceeds.
We're especially interested in hearing from people who checked out as a guest or who weren't using a JCPenney Rewards account when they bought.
If that's you, we'd like to hear from you: Please complete the form on this webpage.
What to do if you shopped at JCPenney
Tell us about your purchases. Completing he form takes a few seconds, costs nothing, and creates no obligation.
Keep your records. Order confirmation emails, receipts, your jcpenney.com order history, and any screenshots or photos showing a crossed-out "regular" price, a "% off" badge, or a coupon code.
Write down what you remember. Which items you bought, roughly when, online or in a store, what the crossed-out price was, and whether you used a coupon or a Rewards account.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a JCPenney class action lawsuit?
Yes. Warren Terzian LLP filed Zhang v. Penney OpCo LLC, No. 24STCV15961, in Los Angeles County Superior Court in June 2024. The lawsuit alleges that JCPenney advertises discounts from "regular" prices it almost never actually charges, in violation of California's False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition Law. The case is active as of September 2026.
What is JCPenney's "regular price"?
It's the higher, usually crossed-out price JCPenney displays next to the sale price—sometimes labeled "reg.," "was," or "original." Our complaint alleges that for the items we tracked, JCPenney never actually offered the merchandise at that price during the four months before we checked. In other words, we allege the "regular price" isn't what anyone pays.
I used a coupon code. Does that matter?
No—you're still covered by the proposed class if you otherwise fit the definition. Our complaint alleges the coupon codes are part of the same scheme: JCPenney posts them on its own website, lets shoppers stack them, and issues them so continuously that even the ticketed price is a price almost no one pays. Our own client used a 25% coupon on her purchase.
I shopped at a JCPenney store, not the website. Am I included?
Possibly. The proposed class covers California residents who purchased from JCPenney whether online or in a store. Tell us about your purchases here and we'll evaluate your situation.
Does it cost anything to participate?
No. Submitting your information is free. In class actions, attorneys' fees are typically paid out of any recovery and must be approved by the court—they're not billed to class members.
I'm a JCPenney Rewards member. Am I included?
The proposed class covers all California residents who fit the definition above, whether or not they're Rewards members.
I don't live in California. Can I still submit my information?
The proposed class covers California residents. If you purchased from JCPenney while living elsewhere, you can still submit your information—consumer protection laws in other states may offer their own remedies.