The suit began as a class action, but Nava later withdrew his request for class certification, pursuing the case on his own. Nine days later, Nava filed suit against Sears. Nava returned home and noticed the error on his receipt by comparing it to a receipt for a different converter box he had purchased at another retailer that same day. Because the voucher was backed by federal government money, the sales tax could only be charged on the net purchase price, minus the $40 voucher.īut when Nava purchased his converter box at Sears, the store charged him sales tax on the full amount. Under federal guidelines, states were not allowed to collect sales tax on the full amount of the price for the converter boxes. The appellate court opinion stems from a dispute that arose in 2009 between Nava and Sears.Īt that time, Nava had purchased a digital TV converter box, using a $40 voucher provided by the federal government to ease the burden on consumers who may have been inconvenienced by the federal mandate requiring TV stations to replace analog TV broadcasts with digital signal. Holstein of Holstein Law Offices in Chicago. Sweetman of Sweetnam LLC in Northbrook and Robert A. Nava was represented by attorneys William M. Del Aguila, all of Greenberg Traurig LLP in Chicago. Sears was represented in the case by attorneys Francis A. Rochford concurred and Justice Mathias Delort specially concurred. The opinion was written by Justice Thomas E. in a consumer fraud suit brought by Adrian Nava. In late July, a panel of the First District Appellate Court reversed a ruling by Cook County Circuit Judge Mary Anne Mason that granted summary judgment in favor of defendant Sears, Roebuck and Co. A man who was charged the full sales tax when he used a federal voucher to purchase a digital television converter box at a Sears store has been cleared to resume his legal action alleging fraud against the retailer.

Sears analog to digital converter box