Unsealed Amazon lawsuit emails show brands raising Target prices

Target’s pricing credibility is now part of California’s antitrust fight against Amazon, after unsealed emails said Amazon sent Hanes links showing lower-priced Target and Walmart listings, then Hanes said it contacted those retailers to raise prices. The documents put Target in the middle of a dispute over whether supplier price moves were driven by competition or by pressure from Amazon’s marketplace rules.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed the lawsuit on Sept. 15, 2022, in San Francisco Superior Court, accusing Amazon of violating the state’s Cartwright Act and Unfair Competition Law. In the newly unsealed filing, California says Amazon routinely pressured vendors to check prices on other sites and ask for increases, with penalties that could include reduced promotion or removal of products from Amazon if they did not comply. The case now has a preliminary injunction hearing set for July 23, 2026, and a trial date of Jan. 19, 2027.

The examples in the filing go beyond one brand. California says Amazon and Levi Strauss agreed to fix prices on khaki pants, and Walmart later raised the price back to $29.99. The filing also says Amazon flagged lower-priced eye drops sold elsewhere to Allergan, and Allergan said Walmart got its price back to $16.99. California argues the conduct affected prices for consumers on and off Amazon, including everyday goods sold across rival chains such as Target, Walmart and Home Depot.

For Target employees, the risk is not abstract. When suppliers shift prices upward, store teams are often the ones fielding complaints about why a familiar item now costs more, why an online price does not match what shoppers expected, or why a promotion disappeared. If California’s case gains traction, pricing oversight could face tighter scrutiny across retail, from how merchants watch competitor pricing to how much influence suppliers have over shelf prices and promotions.

Amazon denied the allegations and said it would respond in court. Walmart said it does not comment on litigation in which it is not a party and will keep prices low. Levi Strauss did not immediately respond. The Amazon case also overlaps with a separate 2023 Federal Trade Commission lawsuit accusing the company of using anticompetitive strategies to maintain monopoly power.