Do Publix’s self-checkout scales falsely add weight — and price — to meat and cheese? Does the supermarket chain leave expired sale signs up in hopes of luring shoppers into buying more at the regular price?

Wendy Koutouzis says she found all of the above at five Tampa Publix stores. Koutouzis put her accusations in a lawsuit filed last week in Miami federal court against Florida’s dominant supermarket chain.

The lawsuit asks for damages not only for Koutouzis, but all Publix shoppers similarly overcharged at checkout.

And Koutouzis’ lawsuit brings receipts or at least photos of receipts, as well as photos of products; products being weighed in other parts of the store; sale price signs; and the self-checkout screens saying, for example, a 4.15-pound chicken weighing in at 4.98 pounds.

Publix, the nation’s fifth largest grocery seller by 2024 data compiled by consumer tracker Numerator.com, boasts on its website of being “the largest employee-owned company in the United States.”

But the lawsuit says that means employees have no incentive to address or warn customers about any checkout problems that might skim customer savings.

“Employees, including cashiers, customer service attendants, and department managers, do not only fail to alert customers, but insist purposely that the customer is wrong, and that the savings were already applied,” the lawsuit says.

Publix has declined comment on the lawsuit.

“It would be inappropriate for us to comment on pending litigation,” company spokeswoman Lindsay Willis said in an email to the Miami Herald on Tuesday.

The suit was filed for Koutouzis by Anthony Russo Jr. of Boca Raton’s The Russo Firm.

Weights and measures at Publix

Koutouzis’ lawsuit revolves around Publix sales, most of which change each Thursday, and meat, produce and cheese sold by weight.

“When a price reduction is advertised for one of the products, instead of charging the reduced sale price multiplied by the weight of the product,” the lawsuit claims, “Publix’s point of sale checkout system automatically increases the weight of the product, so that the consumer does not receive the sale price.”

For the first demonstration of this, the lawsuit uses Publix Extra Lean Pork Tenderloin, normally priced at $6.99 per pound, but on sale for $4.99 per pound.

Koutouzis, the lawsuit says, took a 2.83-pound chunk of extra lean pork tenderloin to self-checkout at the Publix at 6001 N. Nebraska Ave. Under regular pricing of $6.99 per pound, which is marked on the tenderloin, that chunk would cost $19.78. Under sale pricing of $4.99 per pound, it should cost $14.12. The sale pricing would be applied when the chunk is scanned and would show up on the checkout screen.

But according to the photo of the self-checkout screen included with the lawsuit, the chunk’s scan registered the weight at 3.96 pounds and charged $19.78, the regular price for a 2.83-pound chunk. Koutouzis photographed a receipt showing a charge of $19.78.

“Most customers do not realize that the weight of the product has changed because Publix’s (point of sale) is programmed so that the total price of the product matches the total price on the customer’s receipt or the POS screen, so as to avoid detection,” the lawsuit asserts. “And, the customer’s receipt does not list the weight of the product but only the alleged savings and the total price of the product.”

The receipt also claimed that price to be a savings of $7.92. That would be accurate for a 3.96-pound chunk, which would cost $27.68 at the regular price and $19.76 at the sale price.

The lawsuit includes other examples that purport to show this happening with ham, chicken, pork and cheese at various Publix stores.

Old sales at Publix

Signs advertising sale prices don’t always disappear when the sale does. At the Miami River Landing Publix, the sign for a December one-week, 50-cent discount on Johnsonville sausage remained into last week despite management being told about it several times.

Koutouzis’ lawsuit claims she’s told Publix of the incorrect sale signs, but alleges “Publix deliberately leaves the old signs up so customers think there is a sale.”

Granny Smith apples marked as being on sale for $1.99 per pound at Publix. Wendy Koutouzis’ lawsuit claims this was an old sale price at 4900 Kennedy Blvd. in Tampa, and she was charged the regular price when checking out. Lawsuit in Miami federal court.

The lawsuit said that on Jan. 27, at the 8701 W. Hillsborough Ave. Tampa Publix, the sign for Granny Smith Apples on sale for $1.99 per pound remained, but Koutouzis was charged the regular price of $2.69 per pound. The lawsuit said the same thing happened with the same produce on Feb. 15 at 4900 Kennedy Blvd. in Tampa.

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