AUSTIN, Texas – H-E-B is being sued in federal court after a group of shoppers accused the store, along with two other Texas-based grocery stores and 18 other businesses nationwide, of price gouging eggs because of the coronavirus.
Shoppers said H-E-B and the other companies nearly tripled the price of eggs after Gov. Greg Abbott’s March 13 disaster declaration, according to an Austin American-Statesman report.
Recommended Videos
“As in any time of economic turmoil, there are those who seek to profit from the misery of millions,” reads the lawsuit, filed March 30 in Austin, according to the Statesman. “Defendants, who are producers, wholesalers, and retailers of eggs, comprise one such set of actors seeking to unfairly profit from the increased consumer demand for eggs in the midst of the ongoing crisis.”
An H-E-B spokesperson called the lawsuit "baseless" and said the grocery story chain “denies these meritless allegations.”
“While producers’ egg prices did dramatically increase, H-E-B often absorbs such price increases to protect Texans who need eggs,” Dya Campos, director of public affairs and governmental affairs, said in a statement. “H-E-B lost money on eggs rather than passing the cost increases along to its customers. … It is shameful that we have to deal with this baseless lawsuit, filed without even the barest of investigation into our prices.”