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"para_815", "para_816", "para_817", "para_818", "para_819", "para_820", "para_821", "para_822", "para_823" ], "kind": "front_matter" } ], "paragraphs": [ { "text": "NOTICE: SLIP OPINION", "paragraph_id": "para_1" }, { "text": "(not the court’s final written decision)", "paragraph_id": "para_2" }, { "text": "The opinion that begins on the next page is a slip opinion. Slip opinions are the", "paragraph_id": "para_3" }, { "text": "written opinions that are originally filed by the court.", "paragraph_id": "para_4" }, { "text": "A slip opinion is not necessarily the court’s final written decision. Slip opinions", "paragraph_id": "para_5" }, { "text": "can be changed by subsequent court orders. For example, a court may issue an", "paragraph_id": "para_6" }, { "text": "order making substantive changes to a slip opinion or publishing for precedential", "paragraph_id": "para_7" }, { "text": "purposes a previously “unpublished” opinion. Additionally, nonsubstantive edits", "paragraph_id": "para_8" }, { "text": "(for style, grammar, citation, format, punctuation, etc.) are made before the", "paragraph_id": "para_9" }, { "text": "opinions that have precedential value are published in the official reports of court", "paragraph_id": "para_10" }, { "text": "decisions: the Washington Reports 2d and the Washington Appellate Reports. An", "paragraph_id": "para_11" }, { "text": "opinion in the official reports replaces the slip opinion as the official opinion of", "paragraph_id": "para_12" }, { "text": "the court.", "paragraph_id": "para_13" }, { "text": "The slip opinion that begins on the next page is for a published opinion, and it", "paragraph_id": "para_14" }, { "text": "has since been revised for publication in the printed official reports. The official", "paragraph_id": "para_15" }, { "text": "text of the court’s opinion is found in the advance sheets and the bound volumes", "paragraph_id": "para_16" }, { "text": "of the official reports. Also, an electronic version (intended to mirror the", "paragraph_id": "para_17" }, { "text": "language found in the official reports) of the revised opinion can be found, free of", "paragraph_id": "para_18" }, { "text": "charge, at this website: https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports.", "paragraph_id": "para_19" }, { "text": "For more information about precedential (published) opinions, nonprecedential", "paragraph_id": "para_20" }, { "text": "(unpublished) opinions, slip opinions, and the official reports, see", "paragraph_id": "para_21" }, { "text": "https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions and the information that is linked there.", "paragraph_id": "para_22" }, { "text": "IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON", "paragraph_id": "para_23" }, { "text": "CERTIFICATION FROM THE UNITED", "paragraph_id": "para_24" }, { "text": "STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE", "paragraph_id": "para_25" }, { "text": "NINTH CIRCUIT IN", "paragraph_id": "para_26" }, { "text": "SHAWNNA MONTES, on behalf of herself", "paragraph_id": "para_27" }, { "text": "and all others similarly situated,", "paragraph_id": "para_28" }, { "text": "Plaintiff - Appellant,", "paragraph_id": "para_29" }, { "text": "v.", "paragraph_id": "para_30" }, { "text": "SPARC GROUP LLC,", "paragraph_id": "para_31" }, { "text": "Defendant - Appellee.", "paragraph_id": "para_32" }, { "text": "No. 104162-4", "paragraph_id": "para_33" }, { "text": "EN BANC", "paragraph_id": "para_34" }, { "text": "Filed: April 2, 2026", "paragraph_id": "para_35" }, { "text": "GORDON MCCLOUD, J.—“Any person who is injured in his or her business", "paragraph_id": "para_36" }, { "text": "or property” may sue to enforce the Washington Consumer Protection Act (CPA).", "paragraph_id": "para_37" }, { "text": "RCW 19.86.090. Only economic losses count as injuries to “business or property”", "paragraph_id": "para_38" }, { "text": "under the CPA—noneconomic losses, such as “personal injury, ‘mental distress,", "paragraph_id": "para_39" }, { "text": "embarrassment, and inconvenience,’” do not count. Frias v. Asset Foreclosure", "paragraph_id": "para_40" }, { "text": "Servs., Inc., 181 Wn.2d 412, 431, 334 P.3d 529 (2014) (quoting Panag v. Farmers", "paragraph_id": "para_41" }, { "text": "Ins. Co. of Wash., 166 Wn.2d 27, 57, 204 P.3d 885 (2009)).FILE", "paragraph_id": "para_42" }, { "text": "IN CLERK’S OFFICE", "paragraph_id": "para_43" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT, STATE OF WASHINGTON", "paragraph_id": "para_44" }, { "text": "APRIL 2, 2026THIS OPINION WAS FILED", "paragraph_id": "para_45" }, { "text": "FOR RECORD AT 8 A.M. ON", "paragraph_id": "para_46" }, { "text": "APRIL 2, 2026", "paragraph_id": "para_47" }, { "text": "SARAH R. PENDLETON", "paragraph_id": "para_48" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT CLERKFor the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_49" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Grp. LLC, No. 1041624", "paragraph_id": "para_50" }, { "text": "2", "paragraph_id": "para_51" }, { "text": "The issue in this case is whether a consumer suffers an economic injury in", "paragraph_id": "para_52", "court_paragraph": 2 }, { "text": "“her business or property” when she purchases—and obtains—the very product she", "paragraph_id": "para_53" }, { "text": "sought to obtain but does so because the seller misrepresented the product’s price", "paragraph_id": "para_54" }, { "text": "history. The question arises in this case because consumer Shawnna Montes alleges", "paragraph_id": "para_55" }, { "text": "that she purchased $6.00 leggings at their advertised $6.00 price; she obtained", "paragraph_id": "para_56" }, { "text": "leggings that conformed in all material respects to $6.00 leggings; she made the", "paragraph_id": "para_57" }, { "text": "purchase because the seller advertised that the leggings were on sale for $6.00 from", "paragraph_id": "para_58" }, { "text": "a regular price of $12.50; but in fact the leggings had rarely sold for $12.50.", "paragraph_id": "para_59" }, { "text": "Without more, the answer to this question is no. A consumer does not suffer", "paragraph_id": "para_60" }, { "text": "an injury in “her business or property” when she purchases—and obtains and", "paragraph_id": "para_61" }, { "text": "keeps—the fungible product she sought to obtain but does so because the seller", "paragraph_id": "para_62" }, { "text": "misrepresented the product’s price history.", "paragraph_id": "para_63" }, { "text": "A consumer could allege economic loss if, for example, the product she", "paragraph_id": "para_64" }, { "text": "received was objectively different from or less valuable than what was advertised.", "paragraph_id": "para_65" }, { "text": "Williams v. Lifestyle Lift Holding, Inc., 175 Wn. App. 62, 302 P.3d 523 (2013). But", "paragraph_id": "para_66" }, { "text": "Montes made no such allegation. She did not allege that the leggings she received", "paragraph_id": "para_67" }, { "text": "differed in any material, objective way from the leggings advertised. She did not", "paragraph_id": "para_68" }, { "text": "allege that the leggings were worth less than the $6 she paid for them. She did not", "paragraph_id": "para_69" }, { "text": "allege that she tried to return them for a refund after learning the truth about theirFor the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_70" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Grp. LLC, No. 1041624", "paragraph_id": "para_71" }, { "text": "3", "paragraph_id": "para_72" }, { "text": "price history. Instead, Montes received and retained the leggings she wanted at the", "paragraph_id": "para_73", "court_paragraph": 3 }, { "text": "price she agreed to pay.", "paragraph_id": "para_74" }, { "text": "Her allegations do show disappointed expectations. But disappointed", "paragraph_id": "para_75" }, { "text": "expectations do not support a CPA claim. At least as to fungible consumer goods", "paragraph_id": "para_76" }, { "text": "like leggings, the fact “that plaintiff may have been manipulated into purchasing the", "paragraph_id": "para_77" }, { "text": "items because she believed she was getting a bargain does not necessarily mean she", "paragraph_id": "para_78" }, { "text": "suffered economic harm.” Mulder v. Kohl’s Dep’t Stores, Inc., No 15-11377-FDS,", "paragraph_id": "para_79" }, { "text": "2016 WL 393215, at *6 (D. Mass. Feb. 1, 2016) (court order), aff’d, 865 F.3d 17", "paragraph_id": "para_80" }, { "text": "(1st Cir. 2017).", "paragraph_id": "para_81" }, { "text": "FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY", "paragraph_id": "para_82" }, { "text": "I. Plaintiff purchases falsely discounted product and files CPA lawsuit", "paragraph_id": "para_83" }, { "text": "Aéropostale is a nationwide clothing retailer that sells its exclusive line of", "paragraph_id": "para_84" }, { "text": "branded clothing online and in brick-and-mortar stores. Excerpts of Rec. (ER) at 15-", "paragraph_id": "para_85" }, { "text": "52 (complaint).1 Plaintiff Montes was a regular Aéropostale customer. Id. at 42, para.", "paragraph_id": "para_86" }, { "text": "84. On January 9, 2021, she visited Aéropostale’s website to shop and viewed the", "paragraph_id": "para_87" }, { "text": "product page for “Seriously Soft Heathered High-Rise Leggings.” The price of the", "paragraph_id": "para_88" }, { "text": "leggings was listed as $6.00. The struck-out price “$12.50” appeared directly to the", "paragraph_id": "para_89" }, { "text": "1 The facts in this section are taken from the complaint. Because the federal court", "paragraph_id": "para_90" }, { "text": "certified the question in this case in connection with a Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) motion to", "paragraph_id": "para_91" }, { "text": "dismiss for failure to state a claim, we accept all facts alleged in the complaint as true.", "paragraph_id": "para_92" }, { "text": "Trujillo v. Nw. Tr. Servs., Inc., 183 Wn.2d 820, 830, 355 P.3d 1100 (2015).For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_93" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Grp. LLC, No. 1041624", "paragraph_id": "para_94" }, { "text": "4", "paragraph_id": "para_95" }, { "text": "right of that price. Based on these representations, Montes alleges that she", "paragraph_id": "para_96", "court_paragraph": 4 }, { "text": "reasonably believed that the leggings were normally offered and sold for $12.50 and", "paragraph_id": "para_97" }, { "text": "that the “sale” price of $6.00 “represented a special bargain.” Id. at 43, para. 88. She", "paragraph_id": "para_98" }, { "text": "alleges that she also reasonably believed that the leggings “were thereby worth and", "paragraph_id": "para_99" }, { "text": "had a value of $12.50.” Id. Montes purchased the leggings based on these", "paragraph_id": "para_100" }, { "text": "representations. Id. at 43-44, para. 89. She drove to the local Aéropostale store to", "paragraph_id": "para_101" }, { "text": "pick them up. Id. at 44-45, para. 93.", "paragraph_id": "para_102" }, { "text": "On September 15, 2022, Montes filed a putative class action complaint in the", "paragraph_id": "para_103" }, { "text": "Eastern District of Washington on behalf of herself and the members of the following", "paragraph_id": "para_104" }, { "text": "proposed class:", "paragraph_id": "para_105" }, { "text": "All citizens of the State of Washington who, since September 16, 2016,", "paragraph_id": "para_106" }, { "text": "purchased from the Aéropostale website one or more products which", "paragraph_id": "para_107" }, { "text": "was advertised with a discount or “free” offer.", "paragraph_id": "para_108" }, { "text": "Id. at 45, para. 98 (boldface omitted).2 She alleged that Aéropostale violated the CPA", "paragraph_id": "para_109" }, { "text": "by engaging in a widespread “false discounting” scheme in which Aéropostale", "paragraph_id": "para_110" }, { "text": "“advertised perpetual or near perpetual website-wide and store-wide ‘sales’ and", "paragraph_id": "para_111" }, { "text": "percentage-off discounts—typically 50% to 70% off—from Aéropostale’s self-", "paragraph_id": "para_112" }, { "text": "created list prices for its products in order to trick its customers and the general", "paragraph_id": "para_113" }, { "text": "public into thinking that its products were ‘on sale.’” Id. at 16, para. 3. In fact, based", "paragraph_id": "para_114" }, { "text": "2 Montes does not allege that she purchased any items advertised with a “free” offer.For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_115" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Grp. LLC, No. 1041624", "paragraph_id": "para_116" }, { "text": "5", "paragraph_id": "para_117" }, { "text": "on data collected during a yearslong investigation by plaintiff’s counsel,", "paragraph_id": "para_118", "court_paragraph": 5 }, { "text": "“Aéropostale’s advertised former prices (i.e., the strike-through prices which", "paragraph_id": "para_119" }, { "text": "Aéropostale labeled on its website as the “REGULAR PRICE”) to which the", "paragraph_id": "para_120" }, { "text": "discounts were applied were false and inflated.” Id. at 40, para. 71.3", "paragraph_id": "para_121" }, { "text": "In conformity with that scheme and unbeknownst to Montes when she bought", "paragraph_id": "para_122" }, { "text": "the leggings, “Aéropostale had almost never offered the Leggings at the advertised", "paragraph_id": "para_123" }, { "text": "regular price of $12.50.” Id. at 44, para. 90. Instead, for the six-month period", "paragraph_id": "para_124" }, { "text": "immediately prior to the date Montes purchased the leggings, “Aéropostale offered", "paragraph_id": "para_125" }, { "text": "the Leggings on its website at the supposed regular price of $12.50 for only a single", "paragraph_id": "para_126" }, { "text": "day, on January 6, 2021.” Id. para. 91.", "paragraph_id": "para_127" }, { "text": "Montes alleges that this “false discounting scheme” constitutes an unfair and", "paragraph_id": "para_128" }, { "text": "deceptive business practice and that it caused injury to her business or property in", "paragraph_id": "para_129" }, { "text": "three distinct ways. Id. at 49, para. 113.", "paragraph_id": "para_130" }, { "text": "3 Montes alleges that “[t]he percentage-off and other discounts were always false,”", "paragraph_id": "para_131" }, { "text": "yet she also acknowledges that at least some products (including the leggings Montes", "paragraph_id": "para_132" }, { "text": "purchased) were occasionally offered for sale at the reference price. ER at 40, para. 71.", "paragraph_id": "para_133" }, { "text": "Montes implicitly asks us to ignore the fact that products were occasionally offered for sale", "paragraph_id": "para_134" }, { "text": "at the reference price by further alleging that when Aéropostale offered a product at the list", "paragraph_id": "para_135" }, { "text": "price, “it did so in bad faith, solely for the purpose of ‘establishing’ its list price to attempt", "paragraph_id": "para_136" }, { "text": "to exculpate itself from legal liability for its illegal pricing scheme. It was Aéropostale’s", "paragraph_id": "para_137" }, { "text": "intent to sell few if any products at list price, and in fact Aéropostale sold no, or practically", "paragraph_id": "para_138" }, { "text": "no, products at list price.” Id. para. 72.For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_139" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Grp. LLC, No. 1041624", "paragraph_id": "para_140" }, { "text": "6", "paragraph_id": "para_141" }, { "text": "First, Montes alleges that she and the class suffered injury because “they", "paragraph_id": "para_142", "court_paragraph": 6 }, { "text": "would not have purchased the items at the prices they paid had they known the items", "paragraph_id": "para_143" }, { "text": "had not been regularly offered at the higher list price” (the “purchase price” theory).", "paragraph_id": "para_144" }, { "text": "Id. para. 114. Second, Montes makes the somewhat duplicative allegation that she", "paragraph_id": "para_145" }, { "text": "and the class suffered injury because they “did not enjoy the actual discounts", "paragraph_id": "para_146" }, { "text": "Aéropostale represented and promised them.” Id. Instead, “the items did not", "paragraph_id": "para_147" }, { "text": "normally sell for, and were not actually worth, the fictitious and invented ‘regular", "paragraph_id": "para_148" }, { "text": "price’ that Aéropostale listed on its website.” Id. Montes refers to this as the “benefit", "paragraph_id": "para_149" }, { "text": "of the bargain” theory.", "paragraph_id": "para_150" }, { "text": "Third, Montes alleges that she and the class suffered injury because the", "paragraph_id": "para_151" }, { "text": "deceptive pricing scheme inflated demand, which in turn inflated prices: “they paid", "paragraph_id": "para_152" }, { "text": "a price premium due to illegitimately inflated demand resulting from Aéropostale’s", "paragraph_id": "para_153" }, { "text": "deceptive pricing scheme.” Id. She alleges that “[b]ut for the false advertising", "paragraph_id": "para_154" }, { "text": "scheme, Aéropostale would have had to charge less money for its products in order", "paragraph_id": "para_155" }, { "text": "to enjoy the same level of demand for its products.” Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_156" }, { "text": "Montes sought actual and treble damages in an amount to be determined at", "paragraph_id": "para_157" }, { "text": "trial, along with attorney fees and costs. Id. at 50. She did not seek injunctive relief.", "paragraph_id": "para_158" }, { "text": "Id.For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_159" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Grp. LLC, No. 1041624", "paragraph_id": "para_160" }, { "text": "7", "paragraph_id": "para_161" }, { "text": "II. Proceedings in federal court", "paragraph_id": "para_162", "court_paragraph": 7 }, { "text": "Aéropostale moved to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). For purposes of", "paragraph_id": "para_163" }, { "text": "the motion to dismiss, Aéropostale acknowledged that the court could assume that", "paragraph_id": "para_164" }, { "text": "the complaint sufficiently alleged the deceptive acts and causation elements of a", "paragraph_id": "para_165" }, { "text": "CPA claim and that “injury is the sole issue before the Court.” Id. at 9 (order).", "paragraph_id": "para_166" }, { "text": "The district court granted Aéropostale’s motion and dismissed the complaint", "paragraph_id": "para_167" }, { "text": "with prejudice. Id. at 4-11 (order). The court stated, “Washington cases that find", "paragraph_id": "para_168" }, { "text": "injury in false advertising are for goods and services that were different and/or worth", "paragraph_id": "para_169" }, { "text": "less than what was advertised.” Id. at 8-9 (citing Williams, 175 Wn. App. 62).", "paragraph_id": "para_170" }, { "text": "According to the district court, “while Plaintiff alleges her money was diminished", "paragraph_id": "para_171" }, { "text": "to the extent that she paid $6 for the leggings, Plaintiff only alleges that the leggings", "paragraph_id": "para_172" }, { "text": "were not worth the listing price, but she does not allege that the leggings were not", "paragraph_id": "para_173" }, { "text": "worth the price she paid.” Id. at 9 (citing complaint, para. 94). Because Montes did", "paragraph_id": "para_174" }, { "text": "not claim that she “did not receive the value that she paid for,” the district court", "paragraph_id": "para_175" }, { "text": "concluded that Montes failed to allege an injury. Id. at 9-10.", "paragraph_id": "para_176" }, { "text": "Montes appealed. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that", "paragraph_id": "para_177" }, { "text": "Washington case law was not clear about whether Montes alleged an injury to", "paragraph_id": "para_178" }, { "text": "“business or property” as required to state a CPA claim. Ord. Certifying Question to", "paragraph_id": "para_179" }, { "text": "Wash. Sup. Ct. at 3 (May 9, 2025). The court certified to us the following question:For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_180" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Grp. LLC, No. 1041624", "paragraph_id": "para_181" }, { "text": "8", "paragraph_id": "para_182" }, { "text": "When a seller advertises a product’s price, coupled with a", "paragraph_id": "para_183", "court_paragraph": 8 }, { "text": "misrepresentation about the product’s discounted price, comparative", "paragraph_id": "para_184" }, { "text": "price, or price history, does a consumer who purchases the product", "paragraph_id": "para_185" }, { "text": "because of the misrepresentation suffer an ‘injur[y] in his or her", "paragraph_id": "para_186" }, { "text": "business or property’ under Wash. Rev. Code §§ 19.86.020 and", "paragraph_id": "para_187" }, { "text": "19.86.090 if the consumer pays the advertised price?", "paragraph_id": "para_188" }, { "text": "Id. at 5 (alteration in original). In a footnote to the certified question, the Ninth", "paragraph_id": "para_189" }, { "text": "Circuit summarized each of Montes’ three theories of injury so this court could", "paragraph_id": "para_190" }, { "text": "“discuss the viability of these theories under Washington law in the false discounting", "paragraph_id": "para_191" }, { "text": "context to the extent it sees fit.” Id. at 5 n.2.", "paragraph_id": "para_192" }, { "text": "We accepted review.4", "paragraph_id": "para_193" }, { "text": "STANDARD OF REVIEW", "paragraph_id": "para_194" }, { "text": "“Certified questions from federal court are questions of law that we review de", "paragraph_id": "para_195" }, { "text": "novo.” Carlsen v. Glob. Client Sols., LLC, 171 Wn.2d 486, 493, 256 P.3d 321", "paragraph_id": "para_196" }, { "text": "(2011). We consider the certified question “not in the abstract but based on the", "paragraph_id": "para_197" }, { "text": "certified record provided by the federal court.” Id.; see also RCW 2.60.030(2).", "paragraph_id": "para_198" }, { "text": "The certified question in this case asks us to interpret a statute: the CPA. Our", "paragraph_id": "para_199" }, { "text": "objective in statutory interpretation is to “ascertain and carry out the Legislature’s", "paragraph_id": "para_200" }, { "text": "4 Ord. (June 5, 2025). We accepted amicus briefs supporting plaintiff’s position", "paragraph_id": "para_201" }, { "text": "from the Washington attorney general and the National Association of Consumer", "paragraph_id": "para_202" }, { "text": "Advocates. We accepted an amici brief supporting defendant’s position from National", "paragraph_id": "para_203" }, { "text": "Retail Federation, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Retail Litigation Center Inc., and", "paragraph_id": "para_204" }, { "text": "Washington Retail Association.For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_205" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Grp. LLC, No. 1041624", "paragraph_id": "para_206" }, { "text": "9", "paragraph_id": "para_207" }, { "text": "intent.” Dep’t of Ecology v. Campbell & Gwinn, LLC, 146 Wn.2d 1, 9, 43 P.3d 4", "paragraph_id": "para_208", "court_paragraph": 9 }, { "text": "(2002). We consider a statute’s text, context, related provisions, amendments to the", "paragraph_id": "para_209" }, { "text": "provision, and the statutory scheme as a whole to discern the statute’s plain meaning", "paragraph_id": "para_210" }, { "text": "and the legislature’s intent. Ass’n of Wash. Spirits & Wine Distribs. v. Wash. State", "paragraph_id": "para_211" }, { "text": "Liquor Control Bd., 182 Wn.2d 342, 350, 340 P.3d 849 (2015) (citing Campbell &", "paragraph_id": "para_212" }, { "text": "Gwinn, 146 Wn.2d at 9-10).", "paragraph_id": "para_213" }, { "text": "ANALYSIS", "paragraph_id": "para_214" }, { "text": "I. The CPA’s “injury” to “business or property” requirement means that", "paragraph_id": "para_215" }, { "text": "a consumer must allege an objective economic loss, not subjective", "paragraph_id": "para_216" }, { "text": "disappointment", "paragraph_id": "para_217" }, { "text": "The CPA prohibits “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any", "paragraph_id": "para_218" }, { "text": "trade or commerce.” RCW 19.86.020. When first enacted in 1961, the CPA", "paragraph_id": "para_219" }, { "text": "permitted suit only by the attorney general. In 1970, the legislature “amended the", "paragraph_id": "para_220" }, { "text": "CPA to provide for a private right of action whereby individual citizens would be", "paragraph_id": "para_221" }, { "text": "encouraged to bring suit to enforce the CPA.” Hangman Ridge Training Stables, Inc.", "paragraph_id": "para_222" }, { "text": "v. Safeco Title Ins. Co., 105 Wn.2d 778, 784, 719 P.2d 531 (1986).", "paragraph_id": "para_223" }, { "text": "The CPA’s private citizen suit provision permits “[a]ny person who is injured", "paragraph_id": "para_224" }, { "text": "in his or her business or property” by a violation of the act to bring a civil suit for", "paragraph_id": "para_225" }, { "text": "injunctive relief, actual damages, treble damages, and attorney fees and costs. RCWFor the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_226" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Grp. LLC, No. 1041624", "paragraph_id": "para_227" }, { "text": "10", "paragraph_id": "para_228" }, { "text": "19.86.090. To prevail in a private CPA claim, the plaintiff must prove five “distinct”5", "paragraph_id": "para_229", "court_paragraph": 10 }, { "text": "elements: (1) an unfair or deceptive act or practice (2) occurring in trade or", "paragraph_id": "para_230" }, { "text": "commerce, (3) affecting the public interest, (4) injury to a person’s business or", "paragraph_id": "para_231" }, { "text": "property, and (5) a causal link between the unfair or deceptive act and the injury.", "paragraph_id": "para_232" }, { "text": "Hangman Ridge, 105 Wn.2d at 780. By contrast, the attorney general “is not required", "paragraph_id": "para_233" }, { "text": "to prove causation or injury” when it prosecutes a CPA case. State v. Mandatory", "paragraph_id": "para_234" }, { "text": "Poster Agency, Inc., 199 Wn. App. 506, 518, 398 P.3d 1271 (2017); RCW", "paragraph_id": "para_235" }, { "text": "19.86.080.", "paragraph_id": "para_236" }, { "text": "The purpose of the CPA is to “complement the body of federal law governing", "paragraph_id": "para_237" }, { "text": "restraints of trade, unfair competition and unfair, deceptive, and fraudulent acts or", "paragraph_id": "para_238" }, { "text": "practices in order to protect the public and foster fair and honest competition.” RCW", "paragraph_id": "para_239" }, { "text": "19.86.920. The legislature directed that when interpreting the CPA, courts should", "paragraph_id": "para_240" }, { "text": "look to “final decisions of the federal courts and final orders of the federal trade", "paragraph_id": "para_241" }, { "text": "commission interpreting the various federal statutes dealing with the same or similar", "paragraph_id": "para_242" }, { "text": "matters” for guidance. Id. The legislature also directed that the CPA “shall be", "paragraph_id": "para_243" }, { "text": "liberally construed that its beneficial purposes may be served.” Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_244" }, { "text": "Although we interpret the CPA liberally, we are, of course, still bound by the", "paragraph_id": "para_245" }, { "text": "plain language of the statute. The legislature provided that only a person “injured in", "paragraph_id": "para_246" }, { "text": "5 Some of these elements do, of course, overlap, as we have recognized. E.g., Panag,", "paragraph_id": "para_247" }, { "text": "166 Wn.2d at 38 (while the five CPA requirements do not explicitly include standing,", "paragraph_id": "para_248" }, { "text": "standing is subsumed within both the public interest impact and the injury requirements).For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_249" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Grp. LLC, No. 1041624", "paragraph_id": "para_250" }, { "text": "11", "paragraph_id": "para_251" }, { "text": "his or her business or property” can bring a private CPA claim. RCW 19.86.090", "paragraph_id": "para_252", "court_paragraph": 11 }, { "text": "(emphasis added). The term “business or property” means injuries that are economic", "paragraph_id": "para_253" }, { "text": "in nature. Ambach v. French, 167 Wn.2d 167, 172, 216 P.3d 405 (2009) (citing", "paragraph_id": "para_254" }, { "text": "Wash. State Physicians Ins. Exch. & Ass’n v. Fisons Corp., 122 Wn.2d 299, 318,", "paragraph_id": "para_255" }, { "text": "858 P.2d 1054 (1993)). Accordingly, the CPA excludes noneconomic injuries like", "paragraph_id": "para_256" }, { "text": "“personal injury, ‘mental distress, embarrassment, and inconvenience.’” Frias, 181", "paragraph_id": "para_257" }, { "text": "Wn.2d at 431 (quoting Panag, 166 Wn.2d at 57).", "paragraph_id": "para_258" }, { "text": "To be sure, an injury “need not be great” to be cognizable. Hangman Ridge,", "paragraph_id": "para_259" }, { "text": "105 Wn.2d at 792. Injury to business or property may be minimal, difficult to", "paragraph_id": "para_260" }, { "text": "precisely quantify, or even temporary. Mason v. Mortg. Am., Inc., 114 Wn.2d 842,", "paragraph_id": "para_261" }, { "text": "854, 792 P.2d 142 (1990) (temporary wrongful loss of title is an injury to property);", "paragraph_id": "para_262" }, { "text": "Nordstrom, Inc. v. Tampourlos, 107 Wn.2d 735, 740, 733 P.2d 208 (1987) (loss of", "paragraph_id": "para_263" }, { "text": "business goodwill is an injury to business or property). But the injury must be an", "paragraph_id": "para_264" }, { "text": "economic loss. Ambach, 167 Wn.2d at 173.", "paragraph_id": "para_265" }, { "text": "II. Without more, a plaintiff who alleges that she purchased a fungible", "paragraph_id": "para_266" }, { "text": "consumer product at its advertised price because of a misrepresentation", "paragraph_id": "para_267" }, { "text": "about the product’s discounted price, comparative price, or price", "paragraph_id": "para_268" }, { "text": "history, has not alleged that she suffered a cognizable injury to her", "paragraph_id": "para_269" }, { "text": "business or property", "paragraph_id": "para_270" }, { "text": "Montes alleges three legal theories to support her claim that she suffered an", "paragraph_id": "para_271" }, { "text": "injury to business or property: that she was wrongfully induced to make the purchase", "paragraph_id": "para_272" }, { "text": "but she got what she paid for, that she was wrongfully induced to make the purchaseFor the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_273" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Grp. LLC, No. 1041624", "paragraph_id": "para_274" }, { "text": "12", "paragraph_id": "para_275" }, { "text": "but she got what she paid for except for the satisfaction of knowing that she had", "paragraph_id": "para_276", "court_paragraph": 12 }, { "text": "scored a bargain, and the somewhat contradictory legal theory that the price she paid", "paragraph_id": "para_277" }, { "text": "was artificially inflated by the wrongful inducement scheme. See supra at 5.", "paragraph_id": "para_278" }, { "text": "As a preliminary matter, this certified question comes to us following a Fed.", "paragraph_id": "para_279" }, { "text": "R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss on the pleadings—so we accept the complaint’s", "paragraph_id": "para_280" }, { "text": "factual allegations as true. Trujillo v. Nw. Tr. Servs., Inc., 183 Wn.2d 820, 830, 355", "paragraph_id": "para_281" }, { "text": "P.3d 1100 (2015); Cunningham v. Cornell Univ., 604 U.S. 693, 697 n.2, 145 S. Ct.", "paragraph_id": "para_282" }, { "text": "1020, 221 L. Ed. 2d 591 (2025).", "paragraph_id": "para_283" }, { "text": "But we do not accept the complaint’s legal theories as true—indeed, we test", "paragraph_id": "para_284" }, { "text": "the sufficiency of the legal theories against the presumptively true factual allegations", "paragraph_id": "para_285" }, { "text": "on which they are supposed to rest. Trujillo, 183 Wn.2d at 830 (quoting FutureSelect", "paragraph_id": "para_286" }, { "text": "Portfolio Mgmt., Inc. v. Tremont Grp. Holdings, Inc., 180 Wn.2d 954, 963, 331 P.3d", "paragraph_id": "para_287" }, { "text": "29 (2014)).", "paragraph_id": "para_288" }, { "text": "Montes’s basic factual allegation is that Aéropostale wrongfully induced her", "paragraph_id": "para_289" }, { "text": "to purchase leggings for $6.00 by misrepresenting that they typically sold for $12.50.", "paragraph_id": "para_290" }, { "text": "This allegation does not support any of her legal theories of injury. ER at 49, para.", "paragraph_id": "para_291" }, { "text": "113.", "paragraph_id": "para_292" }, { "text": "Let’s start with Montes’s first two legal theories of injury, that is, that she got", "paragraph_id": "para_293" }, { "text": "what she paid for (a fungible pair of leggings that conformed in every way except", "paragraph_id": "para_294" }, { "text": "price history to what she paid for) but was injured nonetheless because she wouldFor the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_295" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Grp. LLC, No. 1041624", "paragraph_id": "para_296" }, { "text": "13", "paragraph_id": "para_297" }, { "text": "not have paid at all except for the false advertising scheme. In a retail transaction,", "paragraph_id": "para_298", "court_paragraph": 13 }, { "text": "the consumer gives the seller money and, in exchange, receives a product or service.", "paragraph_id": "para_299" }, { "text": "Certainly, the consumer’s money is “diminished” when they hand it over. Mason,", "paragraph_id": "para_300" }, { "text": "114 Wn.2d at 854. But in return for their money, the consumer receives something", "paragraph_id": "para_301" }, { "text": "of value. See Bezdek v. Vibram USA Inc., No. 12-10513-DPW, 2013 WL 639145, at", "paragraph_id": "para_302" }, { "text": "*5 (D. Mass. Feb. 20, 2013) (court order) (rejecting induced-purchase injury theory", "paragraph_id": "para_303" }, { "text": "because, while plaintiff “alleges she spent money on shoes she otherwise might not", "paragraph_id": "para_304" }, { "text": "have purchased[,] . . . she also received something of value”). Without more, the", "paragraph_id": "para_305" }, { "text": "mere fact of a retail transaction does not imply economic loss. Appellee SPARC", "paragraph_id": "para_306" }, { "text": "Grp. LLC’s Answering Br. at 21.", "paragraph_id": "para_307" }, { "text": "Of course, it is possible for a retail transaction to cause actual economic loss.", "paragraph_id": "para_308" }, { "text": "But that occurs when the consumer receives a product or service that is objectively", "paragraph_id": "para_309" }, { "text": "different from or less valuable than the product she thought she was buying. For", "paragraph_id": "para_310" }, { "text": "example, in Williams, the court held that the plaintiff alleged a CPA injury to", "paragraph_id": "para_311" }, { "text": "business or property where defendants marketed a plastic surgery procedure as", "paragraph_id": "para_312" }, { "text": "“‘minimally invasive and not a “traditional” facelift,’” but then performed a surgery", "paragraph_id": "para_313" }, { "text": "on the plaintiff that was in reality an invasive, “traditional cosmetic surgery", "paragraph_id": "para_314" }, { "text": "procedure” that caused the precise side effects that the advertisements said the", "paragraph_id": "para_315" }, { "text": "procedure would avoid. 175 Wn. App. at 72.For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_316" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Grp. LLC, No. 1041624", "paragraph_id": "para_317" }, { "text": "14", "paragraph_id": "para_318" }, { "text": "Montes tries to fall within the scope of a Williams-type injury by alleging that", "paragraph_id": "para_319", "court_paragraph": 14 }, { "text": "the leggings’ falsified price history made those leggings materially different from", "paragraph_id": "para_320" }, { "text": "and less valuable than the leggings she wanted. But that is a legal conclusion, not a", "paragraph_id": "para_321" }, { "text": "factual allegation—so we need not accept it as true. Instead, we must test whether", "paragraph_id": "para_322" }, { "text": "that legal theory is viable.", "paragraph_id": "para_323" }, { "text": "It is not. First, Montes does not claim that the leggings were worth less than", "paragraph_id": "para_324" }, { "text": "the $6 she paid. ER at 13 (Montes’s opposition to motion to dismiss) (acknowledging", "paragraph_id": "para_325" }, { "text": "that the leggings “that Ms. Montes received had an actual value of between $5.00", "paragraph_id": "para_326" }, { "text": "and $6.00—the price range Aéropostale regularly offered them for sale” (citing", "paragraph_id": "para_327" }, { "text": "complaint, para. 94)).6 And she does not claim that the leggings she received differ", "paragraph_id": "para_328" }, { "text": "in any objective way (whether in quality, origin, composition, usefulness, or any", "paragraph_id": "para_329" }, { "text": "other metric) from the leggings she saw advertised. In other words, Aéropostale’s", "paragraph_id": "para_330" }, { "text": "6 At oral argument, Montes contended that her complaint alleged that the leggings were", "paragraph_id": "para_331" }, { "text": "not worth $6 as part of her price premium theory. But we do not read her complaint that", "paragraph_id": "para_332" }, { "text": "way. Instead, the complaint alleges:", "paragraph_id": "para_333" }, { "text": "Plaintiff and the Class were also harmed because they paid a price premium", "paragraph_id": "para_334" }, { "text": "due to illegitimately inflated demand resulting from Aéropostale’s deceptive", "paragraph_id": "para_335" }, { "text": "pricing scheme. But for the false advertising scheme, Aéropostale would", "paragraph_id": "para_336" }, { "text": "have had to charge less money for its products in order to enjoy the same", "paragraph_id": "para_337" }, { "text": "level of demand for its products.", "paragraph_id": "para_338" }, { "text": "ER at 49, para. 114 (emphasis added). But an allegation that under different, hypothetical", "paragraph_id": "para_339" }, { "text": "conditions the seller would have had to charge less for the same product to enjoy the same", "paragraph_id": "para_340" }, { "text": "level of demand is distinct from an allegation that at the time Montes bought the leggings,", "paragraph_id": "para_341" }, { "text": "they were not worth $6.For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_342" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Grp. LLC, No. 1041624", "paragraph_id": "para_343" }, { "text": "15", "paragraph_id": "para_344" }, { "text": "alleged misrepresentation did not relate to any objective quality of the leggings.", "paragraph_id": "para_345", "court_paragraph": 15 }, { "text": "Instead, the misrepresentation related only to the price history of the product, which", "paragraph_id": "para_346" }, { "text": "Montes alleges was a claim about the “value” of the product. But a seller’s abstract", "paragraph_id": "para_347" }, { "text": "claim about value does not create an objective difference between two otherwise", "paragraph_id": "para_348" }, { "text": "identical fungible items. After all, as we have previously recognized, “the market", "paragraph_id": "para_349" }, { "text": "determines the fair market value.” Nelson v. Appleway Chevrolet, Inc., 160 Wn.2d", "paragraph_id": "para_350" }, { "text": "173, 180 n.5, 157 P.3d 847 (2007).", "paragraph_id": "para_351" }, { "text": "Instead, Montes’ claimed injury is more accurately characterized as dashed", "paragraph_id": "para_352" }, { "text": "expectations. And expectations do not count as “business or property.” McLaughlin", "paragraph_id": "para_353" }, { "text": "v. Am. Tobacco Co., 522 F.3d 215, 228 (2d Cir. 2008), abrogated on other grounds", "paragraph_id": "para_354" }, { "text": "by Bridge v. Phx. Bond & Indem. Co., 553 U.S. 639, 128 S. Ct. 2131, 170 L. Ed. 2d", "paragraph_id": "para_355" }, { "text": "1012 (2008); see also Br. of Amici Nat’l Retail Fed’n et al. at 10-11 (citing federal", "paragraph_id": "para_356" }, { "text": "civil RICO cases in accord with this conclusion).7", "paragraph_id": "para_357" }, { "text": "This point is illustrated in the New Jersey Supreme Court’s decision in Robey", "paragraph_id": "para_358" }, { "text": "v. SPARC Group LLC, which is a particularly helpful example because the", "paragraph_id": "para_359" }, { "text": "7 The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) (like the CPA)", "paragraph_id": "para_360" }, { "text": "permits civil suits by “[a]ny person injured in his business or property by reason of a", "paragraph_id": "para_361" }, { "text": "violation of [RICO].” 18 U.S.C. § 1964(c). RICO’s “injured in his business or property”", "paragraph_id": "para_362" }, { "text": "language came from section 4 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 15(a), just like the CPA’s", "paragraph_id": "para_363" }, { "text": "language. Julian C. Dewell & D. Wayne Gittinger, Antitrust: The Washington Antitrust", "paragraph_id": "para_364" }, { "text": "Laws, 36 WASH. L. REV. & ST. B. J. 239, 251-55 (1961). We find federal cases interpreting", "paragraph_id": "para_365" }, { "text": "RICO particularly persuasive because of RCW 19.86.920’s directive to interpret the CPA", "paragraph_id": "para_366" }, { "text": "to consider “the various federal statutes dealing with the same or similar matters.”For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_367" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Grp. LLC, No. 1041624", "paragraph_id": "para_368" }, { "text": "16", "paragraph_id": "para_369" }, { "text": "allegations (as well as the defendant and both parties’ counsel) were identical to", "paragraph_id": "para_370", "court_paragraph": 16 }, { "text": "those in this case. 256 N.J. 541, 311 A.3d 463 (2024). In that case, plaintiffs alleged", "paragraph_id": "para_371" }, { "text": "that Aéropostale falsely advertised that clothing items were on sale and that", "paragraph_id": "para_372" }, { "text": "Aéropostale’s misrepresentations caused them to purchase those items. Plaintiffs", "paragraph_id": "para_373" }, { "text": "sued under New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act (CFA), which requires a plaintiff to", "paragraph_id": "para_374" }, { "text": "prove that an unlawful trade practice caused “any ascertainable loss of moneys or", "paragraph_id": "para_375" }, { "text": "property.” Id. at 555 (quoting N.J. STAT. ANN. 56:8-19).", "paragraph_id": "para_376" }, { "text": "The New Jersey Supreme Court held that even though Aéropostale’s alleged", "paragraph_id": "para_377" }, { "text": "practices violated the state’s CFA, even though those practices violated a specific", "paragraph_id": "para_378" }, { "text": "state regulation barring false discount advertising, and even though New Jersey", "paragraph_id": "para_379" }, { "text": "consumer protection law recognizes the purchase price and benefit of the bargain", "paragraph_id": "para_380" }, { "text": "theories of loss, plaintiffs failed to establish that the violation caused an ascertainable", "paragraph_id": "para_381" }, { "text": "loss under either of those theories. Plaintiffs failed to allege that they suffered", "paragraph_id": "para_382" }, { "text": "economic loss under a purchase price theory (like Montes’s first theory of injury)", "paragraph_id": "para_383" }, { "text": "because they did not allege that the products were worthless or unsuitable for their", "paragraph_id": "para_384" }, { "text": "intended use or that it would require additional money to make them usable for their", "paragraph_id": "para_385" }, { "text": "intended purpose. Further, “[a]lthough plaintiffs allege that they never would have", "paragraph_id": "para_386" }, { "text": "purchased the items [but for the deceptive advertising], plaintiffs do not claim that", "paragraph_id": "para_387" }, { "text": "they attempted to return the items or that Aéropostale refused to accept such a", "paragraph_id": "para_388" }, { "text": "return.” Id. at 560. As to the plaintiffs’ benefit of the bargain theory (like Montes’sFor the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_389" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Grp. LLC, No. 1041624", "paragraph_id": "para_390" }, { "text": "17", "paragraph_id": "para_391" }, { "text": "second theory of injury), the New Jersey court determined the plaintiffs had not", "paragraph_id": "para_392", "court_paragraph": 17 }, { "text": "established loss under that theory because they “do not allege that the items", "paragraph_id": "para_393" }, { "text": "purchased were materially different from what was promised—wearable pants, t-", "paragraph_id": "para_394" }, { "text": "shirts, and a sweatshirt, as advertised. Nor have they alleged any dissatisfaction with", "paragraph_id": "para_395" }, { "text": "or defects in the items purchased.” Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_396" }, { "text": "We find Robey’s reasoning persuasive and in accord with Washington law.", "paragraph_id": "para_397" }, { "text": "E.g., Williams, 175 Wn. App. 62; Mason, 114 Wn.2d at 854.", "paragraph_id": "para_398" }, { "text": "In fact, we faced a similar issue in Young v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., 196", "paragraph_id": "para_399" }, { "text": "Wn.2d 310, 320, 472 P.3d 990 (2020). Like in this case, the consumer alleged that", "paragraph_id": "para_400" }, { "text": "he purchased a product (there, a Toyota Tacoma truck) based on the manufacturer’s", "paragraph_id": "para_401" }, { "text": "misrepresentation (there, that the truck had an outside temperature display on the", "paragraph_id": "para_402" }, { "text": "rearview mirror) and that the manufacturer’s misrepresentation violated the CPA.", "paragraph_id": "para_403" }, { "text": "But in that case, as in this one, the misrepresentation did not change the value of the", "paragraph_id": "para_404" }, { "text": "truck in any material, objective way. The trial court acknowledged that the consumer", "paragraph_id": "para_405" }, { "text": "had alleged, and in that case proved, a false and deceptive scheme that had the", "paragraph_id": "para_406" }, { "text": "capacity to deceive the public. But the trial court nevertheless concluded that the", "paragraph_id": "para_407" }, { "text": "consumer failed to allege a cognizable CPA injury to business or property because", "paragraph_id": "para_408" }, { "text": "the misrepresentation had no economic impact and did not cause him any injury.For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_409" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Grp. LLC, No. 1041624", "paragraph_id": "para_410" }, { "text": "18", "paragraph_id": "para_411" }, { "text": "We affirmed. We specifically upheld the trial court’s finding that “Young did", "paragraph_id": "para_412", "court_paragraph": 18 }, { "text": "not prove Toyota’s acts caused him injury.” Id. While we focused on the causation", "paragraph_id": "para_413" }, { "text": "element of a CPA claim, our discussion in that case also implicated the overlapping", "paragraph_id": "para_414" }, { "text": "injury element (the element at issue here). And our discussion in that case makes", "paragraph_id": "para_415" }, { "text": "clear that a consumer who identifies a false and deceptive advertising scheme about", "paragraph_id": "para_416" }, { "text": "a matter that has no impact on the economic value of the fungible consumer good", "paragraph_id": "para_417" }, { "text": "fails to establish that the deceptive “acts caused [the consumer] injury.” Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_418" }, { "text": "Most courts interpreting state consumer protection laws similar to the CPA", "paragraph_id": "para_419" }, { "text": "agree. See Appellee SPARC Grp. LLC’s Answering Br. at 26-33 (collecting cases", "paragraph_id": "para_420" }, { "text": "under New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, Missouri, and Nevada", "paragraph_id": "para_421" }, { "text": "consumer protection laws rejecting purchase price and/or benefit of the bargain", "paragraph_id": "para_422" }, { "text": "theories of injury in comparable situations).", "paragraph_id": "para_423" }, { "text": "Simply put, disappointment is not a cognizable CPA injury. Frias, 181 Wn.2d", "paragraph_id": "para_424" }, { "text": "at 431. Absent an allegation that items were objectively different from or worth less", "paragraph_id": "para_425" }, { "text": "than the purchase price, “[t]he fact that plaintiff may have been manipulated into", "paragraph_id": "para_426" }, { "text": "purchasing the items because she believed she was getting a bargain does not", "paragraph_id": "para_427" }, { "text": "necessarily mean she suffered economic harm.” Mulder, 2016 WL 393215, at *6.", "paragraph_id": "para_428" }, { "text": "Montes finally claims injury under the “price premium” or inflated demand", "paragraph_id": "para_429" }, { "text": "theory: the legal theory that Montes suffered injury because the deceptive pricingFor the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_430" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Grp. LLC, No. 1041624", "paragraph_id": "para_431" }, { "text": "19", "paragraph_id": "para_432" }, { "text": "scheme inflated the market price of the leggings she bought. But her factual", "paragraph_id": "para_433", "court_paragraph": 19 }, { "text": "allegations—which we must take as true—do not support this theory.", "paragraph_id": "para_434" }, { "text": "As noted above at footnote 6 and page 14, Montes’s factual assertions varied", "paragraph_id": "para_435" }, { "text": "somewhat over the course of the litigation in this case. But as she herself stated in", "paragraph_id": "para_436" }, { "text": "her opposition to the motion to dismiss in district court, in support of her first two", "paragraph_id": "para_437" }, { "text": "theories of injury, the leggings had the monetary value that she paid for them: “the", "paragraph_id": "para_438" }, { "text": "Leggings that Ms. Montes received had an actual value of between $5.00 and", "paragraph_id": "para_439" }, { "text": "$6.00—the price range Aéropostale regularly offered them for sale.” ER at 13 (citing", "paragraph_id": "para_440" }, { "text": "complaint, para. 94).", "paragraph_id": "para_441" }, { "text": "This factual concession defeats Montes’s legal “price premium” theory that", "paragraph_id": "para_442" }, { "text": "Aéropostale’s successful deceptive advertising scheme meant that the leggings were", "paragraph_id": "para_443" }, { "text": "really worth even less than $5 or $6.", "paragraph_id": "para_444" }, { "text": "CONCLUSION", "paragraph_id": "para_445" }, { "text": "Montes received the leggings she wanted at the price for which they were", "paragraph_id": "para_446" }, { "text": "offered. She certainly alleges that Aéropostale used a false and deceptive advertising", "paragraph_id": "para_447" }, { "text": "scheme that had the capacity to deceive the public. And she certainly identifies a", "paragraph_id": "para_448" }, { "text": "problem that might be addressed in a different legal claim. Mandatory Poster", "paragraph_id": "para_449" }, { "text": "Agency, Inc., 199 Wn. App. at 518; RCW 19.86.080 (attorney general need not prove", "paragraph_id": "para_450" }, { "text": "causation or injury when prosecuting CPA violation).For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_451" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Grp. LLC, No. 1041624", "paragraph_id": "para_452" }, { "text": "20", "paragraph_id": "para_453" }, { "text": "But the federal court did not ask us about a different legal claim. It asked", "paragraph_id": "para_454", "court_paragraph": 20 }, { "text": "whether a consumer who alleges she purchased a product at its advertised price", "paragraph_id": "para_455" }, { "text": "because of a misrepresentation about the product’s discounted price, comparative", "paragraph_id": "para_456" }, { "text": "price, or price history has alleged that she suffered a cognizable CPA injury, that is,", "paragraph_id": "para_457" }, { "text": "an injury in her business or property. The answer is no. She has not alleged a", "paragraph_id": "para_458" }, { "text": "cognizable CPA injury in her business or property because she does not allege an", "paragraph_id": "para_459" }, { "text": "objective economic loss.", "paragraph_id": "para_460" }, { "text": "WE CONCUR:", "paragraph_id": "para_461" }, { "text": "Yu, J.P.T.For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_462" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Group LLC", "paragraph_id": "para_463" }, { "text": "No. 104162-4", "paragraph_id": "para_464" }, { "text": "STEPHENS, C.J. (dissenting)—The certified question asks whether a", "paragraph_id": "para_465" }, { "text": "consumer who purchases a product because of a misrepresentation regarding the", "paragraph_id": "para_466" }, { "text": "product’s price history could plead a cognizable injury under the Consumer", "paragraph_id": "para_467" }, { "text": "Protection Act (CPA), ch. 19.86 RCW. The majority answers no, holding that such", "paragraph_id": "para_468" }, { "text": "a consumer suffers no injury so long as they receive goods with the same “objective", "paragraph_id": "para_469" }, { "text": "value” as those advertised. This reading departs from the long-standing liberal", "paragraph_id": "para_470" }, { "text": "construction of injury within the meaning of the CPA by limiting its reach solely to", "paragraph_id": "para_471" }, { "text": "quantifiable economic injuries. I would answer the question posed by the U.S. Court", "paragraph_id": "para_472" }, { "text": "of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the affirmative. Based on the facts alleged,", "paragraph_id": "para_473" }, { "text": "Montes could establish a cognizable injury to her business or property because she", "paragraph_id": "para_474" }, { "text": "would not have purchased the product—a pair of leggings—if Aéropostale had not", "paragraph_id": "para_475" }, { "text": "misrepresented its price history. Further, she could establish injury through a “price", "paragraph_id": "para_476" }, { "text": "premium” theory by proving that the deceptive or misleading price history", "paragraph_id": "para_477" }, { "text": "artificially increased demand for the leggings, causing an increase in the product’s", "paragraph_id": "para_478" }, { "text": "market price. The Ninth Circuit does not ask us whether Montes will prevail in herFor the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_479" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Group LLC, No. 104162-4", "paragraph_id": "para_480" }, { "text": "(Stephens, C.J., dissenting)", "paragraph_id": "para_481" }, { "text": "2", "paragraph_id": "para_482" }, { "text": "CPA claim, specifically whether she can quantify and prove damages. The majority", "paragraph_id": "para_483", "court_paragraph": 2 }, { "text": "imports a requirement for such proof into its injury analysis and in doing so narrows", "paragraph_id": "para_484" }, { "text": "the scope of cognizable injuries under the CPA. I respectfully dissent.", "paragraph_id": "para_485" }, { "text": "ANALYSIS", "paragraph_id": "para_486" }, { "text": "The legislature enacted the CPA to “‘protect the public and foster fair and", "paragraph_id": "para_487" }, { "text": "honest competition,’” instructing that the statute be “‘liberally construed [so] that its", "paragraph_id": "para_488" }, { "text": "beneficial purposes may be served.’” Panag v. Farmers Ins. Co. of Wash., 166", "paragraph_id": "para_489" }, { "text": "Wn.2d 27, 37, 204 P.3d 885 (2009) (quoting RCW 19.86.920). To achieve these", "paragraph_id": "para_490" }, { "text": "ends, the CPA prohibits deceptive acts or practices occurring in trade or commerce.", "paragraph_id": "para_491" }, { "text": "RCW 19.86.020. A person bringing a claim under the CPA must establish the", "paragraph_id": "para_492" }, { "text": "following elements: “‘(1) [an] unfair or deceptive act or practice; (2) occurring in", "paragraph_id": "para_493" }, { "text": "trade or commerce; (3) public interest impact; (4) injury to plaintiff in his or her", "paragraph_id": "para_494" }, { "text": "business or property; (5) causation.’” Klem v. Wash. Mut. Bank, 176 Wn.2d 771,", "paragraph_id": "para_495" }, { "text": "782, 295 P.3d 1179 (2013) (alteration in original) (quoting Hangman Ridge Training", "paragraph_id": "para_496" }, { "text": "Stables, Inc. v. Safeco Title Ins. Co., 105 Wn.2d 778, 780, 719 P.2d 531 (1986)).", "paragraph_id": "para_497" }, { "text": "There is no dispute in this case that Aéropostale’s advertising practices were unfair", "paragraph_id": "para_498" }, { "text": "and deceptive, that they occurred in trade or commerce, and that there is a public", "paragraph_id": "para_499" }, { "text": "interest impact. There is also no dispute that Montes would not have purchased the", "paragraph_id": "para_500" }, { "text": "leggings if Aéropostale had not misrepresented the product’s price history.For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_501" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Group LLC, No. 104162-4", "paragraph_id": "para_502" }, { "text": "(Stephens, C.J., dissenting)", "paragraph_id": "para_503" }, { "text": "3", "paragraph_id": "para_504" }, { "text": "Once a plaintiff has established a CPA claim, they may then seek a range of", "paragraph_id": "para_505", "court_paragraph": 3 }, { "text": "remedies. They may bring an action to “enjoin further violations, to recover the", "paragraph_id": "para_506" }, { "text": "actual damages sustained by [them], or both,” and they may also recover costs and", "paragraph_id": "para_507" }, { "text": "reasonable attorney fees. RCW 19.86.090. The CPA additionally authorizes treble", "paragraph_id": "para_508" }, { "text": "damages in certain circumstances, limited to a maximum of $25,000 per violation.", "paragraph_id": "para_509" }, { "text": "Id. In authorizing private actions for violations of the CPA, the legislature granted", "paragraph_id": "para_510" }, { "text": "courts broad discretion to fashion appropriate remedies for each violation. See, e.g.,", "paragraph_id": "para_511" }, { "text": "Allen v. Am. Land Rsch., 95 Wn.2d 841, 852, 631 P.2d 930 (1981) (recognizing that", "paragraph_id": "para_512" }, { "text": "the legislature intended “broadened private remedies under the Consumer Protection", "paragraph_id": "para_513" }, { "text": "Act” and affirming a superior court’s equitable authority to impose an appropriate", "paragraph_id": "para_514" }, { "text": "remedy). We have never required that a plaintiff prove monetary damages to prevail", "paragraph_id": "para_515" }, { "text": "in a CPA action and have repeatedly affirmed that “unquantifiable damages may", "paragraph_id": "para_516" }, { "text": "suffice.” Panag, 166 Wn.2d at 58. Recovery for unquantifiable damages is available", "paragraph_id": "para_517" }, { "text": "in part because the CPA authorizes a broad range of equitable remedies upon a", "paragraph_id": "para_518" }, { "text": "showing of injury. Id. (“Injury is distinct from damages.” (internal quotation marks", "paragraph_id": "para_519" }, { "text": "omitted)).", "paragraph_id": "para_520" }, { "text": "We accepted review of this case by way of a certified question from the Ninth", "paragraph_id": "para_521" }, { "text": "Circuit.1 We review certified questions de novo and “‘consider the legal issues not", "paragraph_id": "para_522" }, { "text": "1 The Ninth Circuit certified the following question: “When a seller advertises a product’s price,", "paragraph_id": "para_523" }, { "text": "coupled with a misrepresentation about the product’s discounted price, comparative price, or price", "paragraph_id": "para_524" }, { "text": "history, does a consumer who purchases the product because of the misrepresentation suffer anFor the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_525" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Group LLC, No. 104162-4", "paragraph_id": "para_526" }, { "text": "(Stephens, C.J., dissenting)", "paragraph_id": "para_527" }, { "text": "4", "paragraph_id": "para_528" }, { "text": "in the abstract but based on the certified record provided by the federal court.’”", "paragraph_id": "para_529", "court_paragraph": 4 }, { "text": "Greenberg v. Amazon.com, Inc., 3 Wn.3d 434, 439, 553 P.3d 626 (2024) (quoting", "paragraph_id": "para_530" }, { "text": "Carlsen v. Glob. Client Sols., LLC, 171 Wn.2d 486, 493, 256 P.3d 321 (2011)). I", "paragraph_id": "para_531" }, { "text": "agree with the majority’s recitation of the factual and procedural history of this case", "paragraph_id": "para_532" }, { "text": "and do not repeat it here. As we have noted, “Context matters in answering these", "paragraph_id": "para_533" }, { "text": "certified questions.” Id. at 441. The context of this appeal stems from a district", "paragraph_id": "para_534" }, { "text": "court’s rejection of all of Montes’s theories of injury, resulting in an order granting", "paragraph_id": "para_535" }, { "text": "Aéropostale’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss. In this context, we accept", "paragraph_id": "para_536" }, { "text": "the complaint’s factual allegations as true and afford no deference to the district", "paragraph_id": "para_537" }, { "text": "court’s decision. Bolden-Hardge v. Off. of Cal. State Controller, 63 F.4th 1215,", "paragraph_id": "para_538" }, { "text": "1220 (9th Cir. 2023).", "paragraph_id": "para_539" }, { "text": "I. “Injury to business or property” encompasses a broader set of harms", "paragraph_id": "para_540" }, { "text": "than pure “economic loss”", "paragraph_id": "para_541" }, { "text": "The central question before us is whether an unfair or deceptive act that", "paragraph_id": "para_542" }, { "text": "induces an individual to buy an item that they otherwise would not have purchased", "paragraph_id": "para_543" }, { "text": "constitutes an injury to business or property. Answering this question does not", "paragraph_id": "para_544" }, { "text": "‘injur[y] in his or her business or property’ under Wash. Rev. Code §§ 19.86.020 and 19.86.090 if", "paragraph_id": "para_545" }, { "text": "the consumer pays the advertised price?” Ord. Certifying Question at 5 (May 9, 2025) (alteration", "paragraph_id": "para_546" }, { "text": "in original). The Ninth Circuit also summarized each of Montes’s theories of injury and invited", "paragraph_id": "para_547" }, { "text": "us to “discuss the viability of these theories under Washington law in the false discounting context", "paragraph_id": "para_548" }, { "text": "to the extent it sees fit.” Id. at 5 n.2.For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_549" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Group LLC, No. 104162-4", "paragraph_id": "para_550" }, { "text": "(Stephens, C.J., dissenting)", "paragraph_id": "para_551" }, { "text": "5", "paragraph_id": "para_552" }, { "text": "require that we determine the value of the item that Montes ultimately received but", "paragraph_id": "para_553", "court_paragraph": 5 }, { "text": "that we analyze whether Aéropostale’s misrepresentation diminished her business or", "paragraph_id": "para_554" }, { "text": "property interests. The majority holds that “the CPA excludes noneconomic injuries", "paragraph_id": "para_555" }, { "text": "like ‘personal injury, mental distress, embarrassment, and inconvenience.’”", "paragraph_id": "para_556" }, { "text": "Majority at 11 (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Frias v. Asset", "paragraph_id": "para_557" }, { "text": "Foreclosure Servs., Inc., 181 Wn.2d 412, 431, 334 P.3d 529 (2014)). I agree, insofar", "paragraph_id": "para_558" }, { "text": "as personal injury, mental distress, embarrassment, and inconvenience are not", "paragraph_id": "para_559" }, { "text": "injuries to business or property. However, it does not follow that the CPA precludes", "paragraph_id": "para_560" }, { "text": "recovery for all noneconomic injuries, as such injuries to business or property may", "paragraph_id": "para_561" }, { "text": "be noneconomic or unquantifiable. By announcing a blanket exclusion, the majority", "paragraph_id": "para_562" }, { "text": "departs from our long-standing approach to injury under the CPA and effectively", "paragraph_id": "para_563" }, { "text": "rewrites the phrase “injury to business or property” to require that a plaintiff", "paragraph_id": "para_564" }, { "text": "demonstrate “economic loss.”", "paragraph_id": "para_565" }, { "text": "Our long-standing liberal construction of the CPA makes clear that the", "paragraph_id": "para_566" }, { "text": "legislature intended to define “injury” broadly. While certain categories of injury", "paragraph_id": "para_567" }, { "text": "fall outside the CPA’s scope, it is because they do not harm an individual’s business", "paragraph_id": "para_568" }, { "text": "or property, not because they are “minimal and temporary,” unquantifiable, or", "paragraph_id": "para_569" }, { "text": "strictly noneconomic. Frias, 181 Wn.2d at 431; see also Hangman Ridge, 105", "paragraph_id": "para_570" }, { "text": "Wn.2d at 792 (“The injury involved need not be great, but it must be established.”).", "paragraph_id": "para_571" }, { "text": "Moreover, because the CPA does not define “business or property,” we haveFor the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_572" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Group LLC, No. 104162-4", "paragraph_id": "para_573" }, { "text": "(Stephens, C.J., dissenting)", "paragraph_id": "para_574" }, { "text": "6", "paragraph_id": "para_575" }, { "text": "recognized that its scope encompasses a broader set of harms than just monetary", "paragraph_id": "para_576", "court_paragraph": 6 }, { "text": "losses. Mason v. Mortg. Am., Inc., 114 Wn.2d 842, 854, 792 P.2d 142 (1990) (“The", "paragraph_id": "para_577" }, { "text": "fact that the Act allows for injunctive relief bolsters the conclusion that injury", "paragraph_id": "para_578" }, { "text": "without specific monetary damages will suffice.”). The CPA provides recovery for", "paragraph_id": "para_579" }, { "text": "harm to both business and property, with the latter being “especially broad,”", "paragraph_id": "para_580" }, { "text": "including for instance, depriving an individual of the use and enjoyment of property", "paragraph_id": "para_581" }, { "text": "for even a short period. Stephens v. Omni Ins. Co., 138 Wn. App. 151, 180, 159 P.3d", "paragraph_id": "para_582" }, { "text": "10 (2007), aff’d sub nom., Panag, 166 Wn.2d 27; see also Klem, 176 Wn.2d at 795", "paragraph_id": "para_583" }, { "text": "(holding that the plaintiff suffered a cognizable injury when a defendant’s", "paragraph_id": "para_584" }, { "text": "unlawfully predated notarization deprived the plaintiff of seven days of property use", "paragraph_id": "para_585" }, { "text": "prior to likely foreclosure because the defendant eliminated the possible chance for", "paragraph_id": "para_586" }, { "text": "the plaintiff to close a sale with a private buyer during that period).", "paragraph_id": "para_587" }, { "text": "Certainly, pecuniary harm to business or property is a common example of a", "paragraph_id": "para_588" }, { "text": "CPA injury, but economic losses are merely sufficient—not necessary—conditions", "paragraph_id": "para_589" }, { "text": "to pleading a cognizable injury. Recognizing that CPA injury encompasses more", "paragraph_id": "para_590" }, { "text": "than monetary loss reflects the fact that the statute uses the term “injury” and not", "paragraph_id": "para_591" }, { "text": "“damages.” Mason, 114 Wn.2d at 854. Accordingly, we have held that", "paragraph_id": "para_592" }, { "text": "“nonquantifiable injuries, such as loss of goodwill[,] would suffice” under the fourth", "paragraph_id": "para_593" }, { "text": "element even though a claimant may not be able to demonstrate actual damages.", "paragraph_id": "para_594" }, { "text": "Nordstrom, Inc. v. Tampourlos, 107 Wn.2d 735, 740, 733 P.2d 208 (1987); see alsoFor the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_595" }, { "text": "7", "paragraph_id": "para_596" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Group LLC, No. 104162-4", "paragraph_id": "para_597", "court_paragraph": 7 }, { "text": "(Stephens, C.J., dissenting)", "paragraph_id": "para_598" }, { "text": "Wash. State Physicians Ins. Exch. & Ass’n v. Fisons Corp., 122 Wn.2d 299, 316, 858", "paragraph_id": "para_599" }, { "text": "P.2d 1054 (1993) (holding that impairment of an individual’s professional reputation", "paragraph_id": "para_600" }, { "text": "represents a cognizable injury under the CPA). By requiring proof of “economic", "paragraph_id": "para_601" }, { "text": "losses,” the majority effectively creates an additional element that would preclude", "paragraph_id": "para_602" }, { "text": "Montes’s cause of action. Relevant here, an economic injury requirement overlooks", "paragraph_id": "para_603" }, { "text": "that diminution of a plaintiff’s business or property interest may be difficult to", "paragraph_id": "para_604" }, { "text": "quantify or may be purely nonmonetary.", "paragraph_id": "para_605" }, { "text": "In adding a requirement for proof of economic injury, the majority’s analysis", "paragraph_id": "para_606" }, { "text": "misfocuses on the perceived intrinsic value of the product that Montes ultimately", "paragraph_id": "para_607" }, { "text": "received as the measure of any injury. The majority reasons that Montes was not", "paragraph_id": "para_608" }, { "text": "harmed because “she obtained leggings that conformed in all material respects to", "paragraph_id": "para_609" }, { "text": "$6.00 leggings.” Majority at 2. Thus, because Montes failed to allege that “the", "paragraph_id": "para_610" }, { "text": "product she received was objectively different from or less valuable than what was", "paragraph_id": "para_611" }, { "text": "advertised,” she merely suffered “disappointed expectations.” Id. at 2-3. This", "paragraph_id": "para_612" }, { "text": "characterization misunderstands the injury Montes suffered. It is true that the CPA", "paragraph_id": "para_613" }, { "text": "excludes disappointed expectations as a cognizable injury, but it does so for the same", "paragraph_id": "para_614" }, { "text": "reason it excludes personal injury, mental distress, embarrassment, and mere", "paragraph_id": "para_615" }, { "text": "inconvenience. These categories of injuries are personal, and they fail to allege any", "paragraph_id": "para_616" }, { "text": "diminution of business or property interests. Fisons, 122 Wn.2d at 318 (“[H]ad our", "paragraph_id": "para_617" }, { "text": "Legislature intended to include actions for personal injury within the coverage of theFor the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_618" }, { "text": "8", "paragraph_id": "para_619" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Group LLC, No. 104162-4", "paragraph_id": "para_620", "court_paragraph": 8 }, { "text": "(Stephens, C.J., dissenting)", "paragraph_id": "para_621" }, { "text": "CPA, it would have used a less restrictive phrase than injured in his or her ‘business", "paragraph_id": "para_622" }, { "text": "or property’.”). Such injuries are not excluded because they are noneconomic or", "paragraph_id": "para_623" }, { "text": "difficult to quantify—indeed, personal injuries are often readily capable of monetary", "paragraph_id": "para_624" }, { "text": "valuation. Instead, the CPA’s purpose is to provide redress for injury to business or", "paragraph_id": "para_625" }, { "text": "property, not to “give personal injury claimants ‘backdoor access’ to compensation", "paragraph_id": "para_626" }, { "text": "from a tortfeasor.” Peoples v. United Servs. Auto. Ass’n, 194 Wn.2d 771, 780, 452", "paragraph_id": "para_627" }, { "text": "P.3d 1218 (2019) (quoting Ambach v. French, 167 Wn.2d 167, 179 n.6, 216 P.3d", "paragraph_id": "para_628" }, { "text": "405 (2009)); see also Frias, 181 Wn.2d at 432 (denying recovery for “emotional", "paragraph_id": "para_629" }, { "text": "distress and associated physical symptoms” but permitting recovery under the CPA", "paragraph_id": "para_630" }, { "text": "for other “sufficient, but not necessary,” injuries such as a temporary loss of title).", "paragraph_id": "para_631" }, { "text": "The distinction between personal injury and injury to business or property does not", "paragraph_id": "para_632" }, { "text": "support denying recovery here. Montes alleges that Aéropostale’s deceptive", "paragraph_id": "para_633" }, { "text": "advertising practices were the sole reason she purchased the leggings and that", "paragraph_id": "para_634" }, { "text": "Aéropostale’s practices artificially drove up the price of the leggings for all", "paragraph_id": "para_635" }, { "text": "consumers. As explained next, this constitutes injury to a property interest.", "paragraph_id": "para_636" }, { "text": "II. Montes alleges a cognizable injury because Aéropostale’s deceptive", "paragraph_id": "para_637" }, { "text": "advertising practices diminished her property interest", "paragraph_id": "para_638" }, { "text": "Montes advances three theories to demonstrate that she has suffered a", "paragraph_id": "para_639" }, { "text": "cognizable injury to her business or property interests. The certified questionFor the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_640" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Group LLC, No. 104162-4", "paragraph_id": "para_641" }, { "text": "(Stephens, C.J., dissenting)", "paragraph_id": "para_642" }, { "text": "9", "paragraph_id": "para_643" }, { "text": "primarily asks whether the “purchase price” theory is cognizable under the CPA and", "paragraph_id": "para_644", "court_paragraph": 9 }, { "text": "then proceeds to outline each of the plaintiff’s theories of injury so that we “may", "paragraph_id": "para_645" }, { "text": "discuss the viability of these theories under Washington law in the false discounting", "paragraph_id": "para_646" }, { "text": "context” as we see fit. Ord. Certifying Question at 5 n.2 (May 9, 2025). Like the", "paragraph_id": "para_647" }, { "text": "district court, I believe there is overlap among Montes’s theories and conclude that", "paragraph_id": "para_648" }, { "text": "she essentially “alleges two theories of injury: that she was misled into purchasing", "paragraph_id": "para_649" }, { "text": "something of value and that she incurred a price premium injury, i.e. charging a", "paragraph_id": "para_650" }, { "text": "higher price for products than it otherwise could have.” Excerpts of Rec. (ER) at 9", "paragraph_id": "para_651" }, { "text": "(Ord. Granting Mot. to Dismiss at 6). I therefore analyze the “benefit of the bargain”", "paragraph_id": "para_652" }, { "text": "theory and the “purchase price” theory together because they allege the same", "paragraph_id": "para_653" }, { "text": "underlying harm, and I would hold that Montes can state a CPA claim under these", "paragraph_id": "para_654" }, { "text": "theories.", "paragraph_id": "para_655" }, { "text": "A. Unlawfully inducing a purchase can constitute an injury under the CPA", "paragraph_id": "para_656" }, { "text": "whether described as a “benefit of the bargain” or “purchase price”", "paragraph_id": "para_657" }, { "text": "theory", "paragraph_id": "para_658" }, { "text": "Under her “purchase price” theory, Montes alleges that she “would not have", "paragraph_id": "para_659" }, { "text": "otherwise purchased [the leggings] but for [the defendant]’s misrepresentations.”", "paragraph_id": "para_660" }, { "text": "Pl.-Appellant’s Opening Br. at 24. Similarly, under the “benefit of the bargain”", "paragraph_id": "para_661" }, { "text": "theory, Montes alleges that she was injured because she did not receive leggings thatFor the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_662" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Group LLC, No. 104162-4", "paragraph_id": "para_663" }, { "text": "(Stephens, C.J., dissenting)", "paragraph_id": "para_664" }, { "text": "10", "paragraph_id": "para_665" }, { "text": "had actually been discounted from $12.50 to $6.00. Montes argues that her loss", "paragraph_id": "para_666", "court_paragraph": 10 }, { "text": "under the “benefit of the bargain” theory is “the difference between the item’s actual", "paragraph_id": "para_667" }, { "text": "value and what its value is represented to be.” Id. at 41 (underlining omitted). This,", "paragraph_id": "para_668" }, { "text": "however, more accurately reflects an assessment of the damages resulting from the", "paragraph_id": "para_669" }, { "text": "injury to her property interest. More precisely understood, her injury under both", "paragraph_id": "para_670" }, { "text": "theories is that she paid money she otherwise would not have because of a", "paragraph_id": "para_671" }, { "text": "representation about the product’s price history.", "paragraph_id": "para_672" }, { "text": "Before today, we had never squarely examined the unlawful inducement", "paragraph_id": "para_673" }, { "text": "theories of injury that Montes presents, but the principle underlying them finds", "paragraph_id": "para_674" }, { "text": "support in our precedent. In Panag, we recognized that “‘[a] person whose property", "paragraph_id": "para_675" }, { "text": "is diminished by a payment of money wrongfully induced is injured in his", "paragraph_id": "para_676" }, { "text": "property.’” 166 Wn.2d at 64 (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Reiter v.", "paragraph_id": "para_677" }, { "text": "Sonotone Corp., 442 U.S. 330, 340, 99 S. Ct. 2326, 60 L. Ed. 2d 931 (1979)). The", "paragraph_id": "para_678" }, { "text": "plaintiff in Panag was unlawfully induced to pay money on an alleged debt, and, in", "paragraph_id": "para_679" }, { "text": "resolving that case, we did not need to decide whether the payment itself, regardless", "paragraph_id": "para_680" }, { "text": "of the validity of the debt, would also constitute an injury under the CPA. We", "paragraph_id": "para_681" }, { "text": "recognized, however, the potential viability of such a theory of injury. See, e.g.,", "paragraph_id": "para_682" }, { "text": "Blair v. Nw. Tr. Servs., Inc., 193 Wn. App. 18, 36, 372 P.3d 127 (2016) (collecting", "paragraph_id": "para_683" }, { "text": "injury cases and noting that “an ‘injury’ can be based on unlawful collection", "paragraph_id": "para_684" }, { "text": "practices even where there is no dispute as to the validity of the underlying debt”).For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_685" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Group LLC, No. 104162-4", "paragraph_id": "para_686" }, { "text": "(Stephens, C.J., dissenting)", "paragraph_id": "para_687" }, { "text": "11", "paragraph_id": "para_688" }, { "text": "In Young v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., the plaintiff advanced an inducement", "paragraph_id": "para_689", "court_paragraph": 11 }, { "text": "theory and we examined whether he proved the causal link between the defendant’s", "paragraph_id": "para_690" }, { "text": "affirmative misrepresentation that a truck included a temperature gauge and his", "paragraph_id": "para_691" }, { "text": "decision to purchase the truck. 196 Wn.2d 310, 320, 472 P.3d 990 (2020). Citing", "paragraph_id": "para_692" }, { "text": "Indoor Billboard/Washington, Inc. v. Integra Telecom of Washington, Inc., 162", "paragraph_id": "para_693" }, { "text": "Wn.2d 59, 83, 170 P.3d 10 (2007), we affirmed the principle that a plaintiff need not", "paragraph_id": "para_694" }, { "text": "show actual reliance on a misrepresentation to demonstrate causation. Young, 196", "paragraph_id": "para_695" }, { "text": "Wn.2d at 321. We nonetheless rejected the plaintiff’s CPA claim on its facts,", "paragraph_id": "para_696" }, { "text": "concluding that “Reliance was Young’s theory, and he failed to prove it.” Id. at 322.", "paragraph_id": "para_697" }, { "text": "Contrary to the majority’s characterization of our decision,2 we did not reject any", "paragraph_id": "para_698" }, { "text": "unlawful inducement theory of injury, instead, holding that Young failed to show", "paragraph_id": "para_699" }, { "text": "that Toyota’s misrepresentation caused him to do anything differently. Id. at 321", "paragraph_id": "para_700" }, { "text": "(noting Young’s failure to establish a causal link between the misrepresentation and", "paragraph_id": "para_701" }, { "text": "his purchase decision “is fatal to [his] particular CPA claim”) This case highlights", "paragraph_id": "para_702" }, { "text": "the interplay between injury and causation; while a plaintiff must demonstrate each", "paragraph_id": "para_703" }, { "text": "2 The majority characterizes the trial court in Young as finding no cognizable injury “because the", "paragraph_id": "para_704" }, { "text": "misrepresentation had no economic impact and did not cause him any injury.” Majority at 17. The", "paragraph_id": "para_705" }, { "text": "trial court, however, focused on inducement, not injury, and found that “Mr. Young failed to", "paragraph_id": "para_706" }, { "text": "demonstrate that Toyota’s mistake induced him to buy his vehicle.” Young v. Toyota Motor Sales,", "paragraph_id": "para_707" }, { "text": "U.S.A., 2018 WL 8805371, at *1 (Spokane County Super. Ct., Wash. Jan. 5, 2018). It also found", "paragraph_id": "para_708" }, { "text": "that his claim was “much more consistent with someone who learned that Toyota had made a", "paragraph_id": "para_709" }, { "text": "mistake and wanted to take advantage of it, than someone who relied upon that item in good faith,", "paragraph_id": "para_710" }, { "text": "and then did very little until Toyota actually admitted their error.” Young v. Toyota Motor Sales,", "paragraph_id": "para_711" }, { "text": "U.S.A., 2017 WL 11318725, at *14 (Spokane County Super. Ct., Wash. Nov. 1, 2017). In", "paragraph_id": "para_712" }, { "text": "affirming dismissal, our decision relied on these findings.For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_713" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Group LLC, No. 104162-4", "paragraph_id": "para_714" }, { "text": "(Stephens, C.J., dissenting)", "paragraph_id": "para_715" }, { "text": "12", "paragraph_id": "para_716" }, { "text": "of the required elements of a CPA claim, these elements “should not be read in", "paragraph_id": "para_717", "court_paragraph": 12 }, { "text": "isolation so as to render absurd conclusions.” Ambach, 167 Wn.2d at 178.", "paragraph_id": "para_718" }, { "text": "Here, in contrast to Young, we are not concerned with whether Montes has", "paragraph_id": "para_719" }, { "text": "proven her allegations or established causation. Taking the allegations in the", "paragraph_id": "para_720" }, { "text": "complaint as true, Montes would not have spent $6 on this pair of leggings if she", "paragraph_id": "para_721" }, { "text": "had known the product’s true price history.3 To view this as a pure causation", "paragraph_id": "para_722" }, { "text": "question would “render absurd conclusions” because it is Aéropostale’s affirmative", "paragraph_id": "para_723" }, { "text": "misrepresentation that led Montes to purchase the leggings, and it is the purchase", "paragraph_id": "para_724" }, { "text": "itself that constitutes a cognizable injury in these circumstances. Id. Stated", "paragraph_id": "para_725" }, { "text": "differently, Montes’s property interest was diminished because Aéropostale’s", "paragraph_id": "para_726" }, { "text": "misrepresentation prevented her from, for instance, spending $6 elsewhere on", "paragraph_id": "para_727" }, { "text": "another item; she is not required to prove that the leggings are not worth $6.4 By", "paragraph_id": "para_728" }, { "text": "3 The Ninth Circuit presumes the truth of this factual allegation in its certified question, asking", "paragraph_id": "para_729" }, { "text": "whether “a consumer who purchases the product because of the misrepresentation suffer[s] an", "paragraph_id": "para_730" }, { "text": "‘injur[y] in his or her business or property.’” Ord. Certifying Question at 5 (second alteration in", "paragraph_id": "para_731" }, { "text": "original). The district court similarly accepted all allegations of material fact as true when it", "paragraph_id": "para_732" }, { "text": "granted Aéropostale’s motion to dismiss. ER at 5 (Ord. Granting Mot. to Dismiss at 2). However,", "paragraph_id": "para_733" }, { "text": "after accepting that Montes would not have purchased the leggings absent Aéropostale’s", "paragraph_id": "para_734" }, { "text": "misrepresentation, the district court incorrectly concluded that Montes’s claim fails as a matter of", "paragraph_id": "para_735" }, { "text": "law because she did not allege that the leggings “were different and/or less than what was", "paragraph_id": "para_736" }, { "text": "advertised.” Id. at 8 (Ord. Granting Mot. to Dismiss at 5-6). The majority makes the same mistake.", "paragraph_id": "para_737" }, { "text": "As explained in the main text, this is not an element of proof under the CPA.", "paragraph_id": "para_738" }, { "text": "4 While not squarely presented in this case, Aéropostale’s deceptive advertising practices could", "paragraph_id": "para_739" }, { "text": "also risk distorting the competitive marketplace for leggings. If competitors sell $6 leggings", "paragraph_id": "para_740" }, { "text": "without deceptively marking them as discounted, it is possible that such competitors are at a", "paragraph_id": "para_741" }, { "text": "competitive disadvantage and preventing Aéropostale’s practices accords with the CPA’s purpose", "paragraph_id": "para_742" }, { "text": "to “foster fair and honest competition.” RCW 19.86.920.For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_743" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Group LLC, No. 104162-4", "paragraph_id": "para_744" }, { "text": "(Stephens, C.J., dissenting)", "paragraph_id": "para_745" }, { "text": "13", "paragraph_id": "para_746" }, { "text": "concluding that Montes alleges nothing more than “dashed expectations,” the", "paragraph_id": "para_747", "court_paragraph": 13 }, { "text": "majority’s interpretation of the CPA would allow deceptive or misleading", "paragraph_id": "para_748" }, { "text": "advertising to induce consumers to part with their money so long as the goods", "paragraph_id": "para_749" }, { "text": "generally function as advertised. This erroneously narrows the CPA.", "paragraph_id": "para_750" }, { "text": "Faced with a similar issue of first impression, the Oregon Supreme Court", "paragraph_id": "para_751" }, { "text": "recently analyzed its Unfair Trade Practices Act and recognized that “[a]t its essence,", "paragraph_id": "para_752" }, { "text": "the purchase price theory is that one person has been induced by another person’s", "paragraph_id": "para_753" }, { "text": "unlawful activities to pay money for something that the first person would not", "paragraph_id": "para_754" }, { "text": "otherwise have bought.” Clark v. Eddie Bauer LLC, 371 Or. 177, 194, 532 P.3d 880", "paragraph_id": "para_755" }, { "text": "(2023). Under this theory, it is irrelevant whether the leggings Montes received were", "paragraph_id": "para_756" }, { "text": "actually “worth less than the purchase price.” Majority at 18. Much like the plaintiff", "paragraph_id": "para_757" }, { "text": "in Oregon, Montes alleged that she received “merchandise that had never been", "paragraph_id": "para_758" }, { "text": "offered for sale at those prices” and that because of the representations regarding", "paragraph_id": "para_759" }, { "text": "price history, she “paid money to defendants for articles of clothing that she would", "paragraph_id": "para_760" }, { "text": "not have bought had she known their true price history.” Clark, 371 Or. at 194. The", "paragraph_id": "para_761" }, { "text": "Oregon Supreme Court’s reasoning is persuasive because it accords with our", "paragraph_id": "para_762" }, { "text": "approach to the CPA’s injury prong. Specifically, it centers the injury analysis on", "paragraph_id": "para_763" }, { "text": "the diminution of a property interest—deceptively inducing a person to spend money", "paragraph_id": "para_764" }, { "text": "they would not otherwise have spent—not on a putative objective value of the", "paragraph_id": "para_765" }, { "text": "purchased item. I would hold that Montes’s “purchase price” and “benefit of theFor the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_766" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Group LLC, No. 104162-4", "paragraph_id": "para_767" }, { "text": "(Stephens, C.J., dissenting)", "paragraph_id": "para_768" }, { "text": "14", "paragraph_id": "para_769" }, { "text": "bargain” theories of injury state viable claims under the CPA. I turn next to", "paragraph_id": "para_770", "court_paragraph": 14 }, { "text": "consideration of her “price premium” theory of injury.", "paragraph_id": "para_771" }, { "text": "B. Artificially inflating demand for an item by misrepresenting its price", "paragraph_id": "para_772" }, { "text": "history can constitute an injury under the CPA", "paragraph_id": "para_773" }, { "text": "In addition to the “benefit of the bargain” and “purchase price” theories,", "paragraph_id": "para_774" }, { "text": "Montes alleges a “price premium” theory of injury. Under this theory, Montes", "paragraph_id": "para_775" }, { "text": "alleges that she paid a premium for the leggings because Aéropostale’s", "paragraph_id": "para_776" }, { "text": "misrepresentations about its price history artificially increased demand for the", "paragraph_id": "para_777" }, { "text": "leggings, leading to an increase in the product’s market price. Aéropostale’s market", "paragraph_id": "para_778" }, { "text": "manipulation, she alleges, effectively led every consumer, including Montes, to pay", "paragraph_id": "para_779" }, { "text": "a higher price than they otherwise would have for the leggings.", "paragraph_id": "para_780" }, { "text": "Accepting the factual allegations as true, Montes’s “price premium” theory is", "paragraph_id": "para_781" }, { "text": "a viable theory of injury under the CPA. We are not asked to decide whether", "paragraph_id": "para_782" }, { "text": "Aéropostale’s misrepresentations in fact shifted the demand curve and increased the", "paragraph_id": "para_783" }, { "text": "price Montes and other consumers paid for these leggings. We have long recognized", "paragraph_id": "para_784" }, { "text": "that if a plaintiff’s purchasing power is diminished because of the defendant’s unfair", "paragraph_id": "para_785" }, { "text": "or deceptive act, this can constitute a cognizable injury under the CPA. Panag, 166", "paragraph_id": "para_786" }, { "text": "Wn.2d at 57; Trujillo v. Nw. Tr. Servs., Inc., 183 Wn.2d 820, 837, 355 P.3d 1100", "paragraph_id": "para_787" }, { "text": "(2015) (holding that the plaintiff suffered a cognizable injury because they incurredFor the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_788" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Group LLC, No. 104162-4", "paragraph_id": "para_789" }, { "text": "(Stephens, C.J., dissenting)", "paragraph_id": "para_790" }, { "text": "15", "paragraph_id": "para_791" }, { "text": "“investigation expenses and other costs associated with dispelling the uncertainty”", "paragraph_id": "para_792", "court_paragraph": 15 }, { "text": "brought upon by the defendant’s deceptive acts); Greenberg, 3 Wn.3d at 461", "paragraph_id": "para_793" }, { "text": "(finding that plaintiffs “suffered monetary harm . . . [because] [t]hey each paid higher", "paragraph_id": "para_794" }, { "text": "prices on consumer goods and food items than they otherwise would have” absent", "paragraph_id": "para_795" }, { "text": "Amazon’s unlawful pricing practices). The amicus brief filed by the Washington", "paragraph_id": "para_796" }, { "text": "attorney general notes, “Advertised reference prices are not emotional or subjective;", "paragraph_id": "para_797" }, { "text": "they are quintessentially objective market signals.” Br. of Amicus Curiae Att’y Gen.", "paragraph_id": "para_798" }, { "text": "of State of Wash. at 11. This aligns with our understanding of injuries to business", "paragraph_id": "para_799" }, { "text": "or property under the CPA, which encompass Montes’s allegation that Aéropostale’s", "paragraph_id": "para_800" }, { "text": "deceptive market signals caused an increase in demand and a commensurate increase", "paragraph_id": "para_801" }, { "text": "in price. If Montes can demonstrate that Aéropostale’s practices inflated the price", "paragraph_id": "para_802" }, { "text": "she paid for these leggings, then she has suffered a cognizable injury under the CPA.", "paragraph_id": "para_803" }, { "text": "I would recognize the validity of her “price premium” theory.", "paragraph_id": "para_804" }, { "text": "CONCLUSION", "paragraph_id": "para_805" }, { "text": "The majority concludes that Montes “received the leggings she wanted at the", "paragraph_id": "para_806" }, { "text": "price for which they were offered,” majority at 19, effectively holding that Montes", "paragraph_id": "para_807" }, { "text": "got a fair deal and would have purchased the leggings regardless of Aéropostale’s", "paragraph_id": "para_808" }, { "text": "misrepresentation. I believe that such a “dashed expectations” characterization of", "paragraph_id": "para_809" }, { "text": "Montes’s claims reflects an overly narrow view of “injury” under the CPA andFor the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_810" }, { "text": "Montes v. SPARC Group LLC, No. 104162-4", "paragraph_id": "para_811" }, { "text": "(Stephens, C.J., dissenting)", "paragraph_id": "para_812" }, { "text": "16", "paragraph_id": "para_813" }, { "text": "suggests factual findings that are not ours to make, and the rule that follows the", "paragraph_id": "para_814", "court_paragraph": 16 }, { "text": "majority’s holding risks excluding all noneconomic or unquantifiable injuries to", "paragraph_id": "para_815" }, { "text": "business or property from the CPA’s expansive remedy provisions. Such a result", "paragraph_id": "para_816" }, { "text": "departs from our long-standing approach to analyzing injury under the CPA. I would", "paragraph_id": "para_817" }, { "text": "hold that Montes has pleaded a cognizable injury to her property interests under both", "paragraph_id": "para_818" }, { "text": "her “benefit of the bargain” and “purchase price” theories as well as her “price", "paragraph_id": "para_819" }, { "text": "premium” theory. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.", "paragraph_id": "para_820" }, { "text": "_______________________________", "paragraph_id": "para_821" }, { "text": "________________________________", "paragraph_id": "para_822" }, { "text": "_______________________________For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.", "paragraph_id": "para_823" } ], "word_count": 9375, "cites": [ "604 U.S. 693", "553 U.S. 639", "442 U.S. 330", "865 F.3d 17", "522 F.3d 215", "63 F.4th 1215" ], "cited_by": [], "sha256": "701e7a8340777db237cbe20eb238b21ea7f59c02ceb1c310fd32b5cdb2b01fea", "source_url": "https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/1041624.pdf", "fetched_at": "2026-10-11T06:58:14.208+00:00", "canonical": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/ai/judgments/us/wash-104-162-4-2026-04-02", "risk_graph": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/risk?id=us:wash-104-162-4-2026-04-02", "relations_graph": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/relations?id=us:wash-104-162-4-2026-04-02", "changes": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/us-praxis/changes", "agent": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/us-praxis/agent?id=us:wash-104-162-4-2026-04-02", "verification": { "stored_sha256": "701e7a8340777db237cbe20eb238b21ea7f59c02ceb1c310fd32b5cdb2b01fea", "recomputed_sha256": "701e7a8340777db237cbe20eb238b21ea7f59c02ceb1c310fd32b5cdb2b01fea", "intact": true, "checked_at": "2026-10-15T06:23:34.480Z" } }, "hash": "sha256:cf402c031022ca33db81dcbe196831cfbb88a0777b263402b309a6e8531df9f6", "version": "legal-2026-10-14", "expires": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000Z", "dependency": { "index_version": "legal-2026-10-14+legal-2026-10-14+2026-10-14T19:52:40", "content_hash": "sha256:cf402c031022ca33db81dcbe196831cfbb88a0777b263402b309a6e8531df9f6", "revalidate_after": "2026-10-15T07:23:34.654Z", "max_copy_age_seconds": 3600, "policy": "revalidate-required; attribution-preferred", "changelog": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/dependency", "verify": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/verify", "stale_copy_invalid": true }, "canonical": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=us:wash-104-162-4-2026-04-02", "follow": [ { "rel": "risk", "href": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/risk?id=us:wash-104-162-4-2026-04-02" }, { "rel": "relations", "href": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/relations?id=us:wash-104-162-4-2026-04-02" }, { "rel": "agent", "href": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/us-praxis/agent?id=us:wash-104-162-4-2026-04-02" }, { "rel": "obligations", "href": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/obligation-chain" }, { "rel": "changes", "href": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/whats-new?jurisdiction=us" } ], "disclaimer": "Source reference with official identifier. 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