Malvin & Shafran, Inc.

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IN THE MATTER OF MALV1N & SHAFRAN INC. BT AL.

CONSENT ORDER, ETC. IN REGARD TO THE ALLEGED VIOLATION OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION AND THE FUR l' RODUCTS LABELING ACTS Docket 7307. Complaint Vov. 1958-Decision, May 1!J5. Consent order requiring a Los Angeles furrier to cease violating the Fur Products Labeling Act by failing" to comply with invoicing requirements, by advertising in letters to a customer which represented prices of fur products as reduced from purported regular prices which were in fact fictitious, and by failing to maintain adequate records as a basis for such pricing' claims.

Mr. Eugene Kaplan for the Commission. Benjamin Held, Esq. of Los Angeles, Calif. for respondents. INITIAL DECISION BY LOREN II. LAUGHLIN, HEARING EXAMINER The Federal Trade Commission (sometimes also hereinafter referred to as the Commission) on November IS , 1955, issued its complaint herein, charging the above-named respondents with having violated the provisions of both the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Fur Products Labeling Act, together with the Rules and Regulations promulgated thereunder, and the respondents were duly served with process. On March IS, 1959 , there was submitted to the undersigned hearing examiner of the Commission for his consideration and approval an "Agreement Containing Consent Order to Cease and Desist " which had been entered into by and between respondents and the attorneys for both parties, under date of February 26 1959, subject to the approval of the Bureau of Litigation of the Commission, which had subsequently duly approved the same. On due consideration of such agreement, the hearing examiner finds that said agreement, both in form and in content, is in accord with 93. 25 of the Commission s Rules of Practice for Adjudicative Proceedings, and that by said agreement the parties have specifically agreed to the following matters; 1. Respondent Malvin & Shafran, Inc. , is a corporation organized, existing and doing business under and by virtue of the laws of the State of California, with its offce and principal place of business located at 706 South Hill Street, Los Angeles 14 Calif.

1786 FEDERAL TRADE COM !ISSION DECISIOKS Decision 5G F.

Individual respondents Myron H, Malvin and Abraham Shafran are of!cers of the said corporate respondent and control, direct and formulate the acts, practices and policies of the said corpol"ate respondent. The offce and principal place of business of the individual respondents is the same as that of the corporate respondent.

2. Respondents admit all the jurisdictional facts alleged in the complaint and agree that the record may be taken as if findings of jurisdictional facts had been duly made in accordance with such allegations, 3. This agreement disposes of all of this proceeding as to all parties.

4. Respondents waive:

a. Any further procedural steps before the hearing examiner and the Commission;

b. The making of findings of fact or conclusions of la\v; and c. All of the rig-hts they may have to challenge or contest the validity of the order to cease and desist entered in accordance with this agre2ment.

5. The record on which the initial decision and the decision of the Commission shall be based shall consist solely of the complaint and this agreement.

G. This ag-reement shall not become a part of the offcial record unless and until it becomes a part of the decision of the Commission.

7. This agreement is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by respondents that they have violated the law as alleged in the complaint. 8. The following order to cease and desist may be entered in this proceeding by the Commission without further notice to respondents, When so entered it shall have the same force and effect as if entered after a full hearing, It may be altered, modified or set Rside in the manner provided for other orders, The complaint may be used in construing the terms of the order. Upon due consideration of the complaint filed herein and the said "Agreement Containing Consent Order to Cease and Desist " the latter is hereby approved, accepted and ordered filed the same not to become a part of the record herein, however unless and until it becomes part of the decision of the Commission. The hearing examiner finds from the complaint and the said Agreement Containing Consent Order to Cease and Desist" that the Commission has jurisdiction of the subject matter of this MALVIN & SHAFRAN , INC., ET AL, 1787 I7S5 Order proceeding and of each of the respondents herein; that the complaint states a legal cause for complaint under the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Fur Products Labeling Act and the Rules and Regulations promulgated hy the Commission under the latter Act, against each of the respondents both generally and in each of the pariiclllar alleged therein; that this proceeding is in the interest of the public; that the following order as proposed in said agreement is appropriate for the just disposition of all of the issues in t is proceeding as to all of the parties hereto; and that said order therefore should be, and hereby is, entered as follows:

ORDER It is o)'deled That Malvin & Shafran, Inc., a corporation, and its oflkcrs, and Myron H, Malvin and Abraham Shafran, individually and as officers of said corporation, and respondents' representatives, agents and employees, directly or through any corponlte or other device, in connection with the introduction or manufacture for introduction into commerce, or the sale, advertising, or offering for sale, in commerce, or the transportation or distribution, in commerce, of fur products, or in connection with the manufacturing f()r .sale, sale, advertising, offering for sale, transportation, or distribution of fur products which arc made in whole or in part of fur which has been shipped and received in commerce, as "commerce fur " and " fur product" are defined in the Fur Products Labeling Act, do forthwith cease and desist from:

1. Falsely 01' deceptively invoicing fur Proclucts by: A. Failing to furnish invoices to purchasers of fur products showing:

(1) The name or names of the animal or animals producing the fur or rurs contained in the fur products as set fol:th in the Fur Products Name Guide and as prescribed under the Rules and Regulations;

(2) That the fur product contains or is composed of used fur when such is the fact;

(3) That the fur product contains or is composed of bleached dyed or otherwise artificially colored fur, when such is the fact; (4) That the fur product is composed in whole or in substantial part of paws, tails, bellies, or waste fur, when such is the fact;

1788 FEDERAL TRADB: COMMISSION DECISIONS Decision 55 F.

(5) The name and address of the person issuing such invoice; (6) The name of the counlry of origin of any imported furs contained in a fur product;

(7) The item number or mark assigned to a fur product. B. Setting forth information required under 95 (b) (1) of the Fur Products Labeling Act and the Rules and Regulations promulgated thereunder in abbreviatcd form. 2. Falsely or deceptively advertising fur products through the use of any advertisement, representation, public announcement or notice which is intended lo aid, promote or assist, directly or indirectly, in the sale, or offering for sale of fur products, and which;

A. Represents directly or by implication that the regular or usual price of any fur product is any amount which is in excess of the price at which respondents have usually and customarily sold such products in the recent regular course of business. 3. Making price claims and representations of the type referred to in paragraph 2A above, unless there are maintained by respondents full and adequate records disclosing the facts upon which such claims or representations are based. DECISION OF THE COMMISSIOK AND ORDER TO FILE REPORT OF COMPLIANCE Pursuant to Section 3.21 of the Commission s Rules of Practice the initial decision of the hearing examiner shall, on the 13th day of May 1959 , become the decision of the Commission; and, accordingly;

It is ordered That the above-named respondents shall, within sixty (60) days after service upon them of this order, file with the Commission a report in writing, setting forth in detail the manner and form in which they have complied with the order to cease and desist.

ADAM, MELDRUM & ANDERSON CO. , INC, 1789 Decision