Amazon (AMZN Get Amazon.com, Inc. Report has reached a settlement in a case it filed, charging two social-media influencers with selling knockoffs of luxury items through Amazon listings run by third-party sellers.
According to a company statement, the Seattle e-commerce giant on Thursday said it settled with the influencers, Kelly Fitzpatrick and Sabrina Kelly-Krejci. The accord bars them "from marketing, advertising, linking to, promoting or selling any products on Amazon."
Both Fitzpatrick and Kelly-Krejci will make settlement payments to Amazon. The company did not specify the financial terms but said the proceeds would be distributed to a number of charities, including consumer awareness initiatives. One is The Unreal Campaign, affiliated with the International Trademark Association.
"We are pleased that this settlement has resulted in the individuals recognizing the harm they caused, assistance for our investigation moving forward, and that charities will benefit from the recovered funds,” the director of Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit, Kebharu Smith, said in a statement.
"This settlement sends a strong message to would-be bad actors that Amazon will find you and hold you fully accountable," Smith added.
Fitzpatrick, in a statement, said, “I would warn others engaged in similar conduct on social media that there will be serious consequences for their actions.”
Kelly-Krejci said, “I appreciate the opportunity to resolve this dispute and to assist Amazon.”
Amazon had first filed a lawsuit against Fitzpatrick and Kelly-Krejci in November last year. The action alleged they had advertised, promoted and facilitated the sale of counterfeit luxury goods on the online marketplace in collaboration with third-party sellers.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, said Fitzpatrick and Kelly-Krejci used Instagram, Facebook (FB Get Facebook, Inc. Class A Report and TikTok as well as their own websites to sell the products.
In settling, Fitzpatrick and Kelly-Krejci agreed to fully and unconditionally cooperate with Amazon’s investigation of, and legal action against, the remaining defendants, the company said.
Amazon had also named 11 other individuals and businesses that allegedly listed these falsely branded Gucci and Dior products on Amazon.
Amazon formed its Counterfeit Crimes Unit in June 2020.
Separately, Amazon reached a settlement with two former employees who said they were wrongly fired for publicly speaking out about the company’s climate record and labor policies, according to the National Labor Relations Board.
In this settlement, the two former Amazon employees, Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa, said in a statement that the tech giant must pay their "lost wages and post a notice to all of its tech and warehouse workers nationwide that Amazon can’t fire workers for organizing and exercising their rights.”
NLRB spokeswoman Kayla Blado confirmed that the two parties had reached a “non-board settlement.”
Amazon said in a statement, "We have reached a mutual agreement that resolves the legal issues in this case and welcome the resolution of this matter."
Shares of the Seattle tech giant at last check rose 0.2% to $3,310.55.
