Kanawha Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers
CHARLESTON – Three Kanawha County schools have received a combined nearly $6,500 in remaining settlement funds from a class-action lawsuit against The Children’s Place.
On October 28, Kanawha Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers announced she delivered checks for $2,142.50 each to John Adams Middle School Principal John Moyers, Horace Mann Middle School Principal Shandon Tweedy and Holz Elementary School Principal Lynn Davis. Under a court order regarding those funds, Akers also awarded $2,142.50 to Legal Aid of West Virginia.
The distributions follow an August 3 order allocating the $8,570 left in the settlement fund after payments to claimants. The order awarded 25% to Legal Aid of West Virginia and divided the balance equally among the three schools’ parent-teacher organizations. Each principal has discretion to use the money for students’ benefit.
The money was awarded through cy pres, a legal doctrine used to direct funds to an appropriate alternative beneficiary when the intended recipients are unavailable. Akers said the school distributions would benefit children because the unclaimed money arose from consumers’ purchases of children’s clothing.
“As those folks would be people who allegedly suffered a financial loss when they bought children’s clothes, the nearest possible beneficiary would be public school children,” Akers told The West Virginia Record.
The lawsuit, brought by Joshua Starcher, concerned allegations that The Children’s Place charged West Virginia customers sales tax and additional fees on qualifying purchases during an advertised tax-free weekend in August 2023.
The complaint alleged the retailer advertised a “Tax-Free Weekend” from August 4 through August 7, 2023, but charged sales tax on clothing purchases that qualified for the exemption.
Akers entered the final settlement approval order September 4, 2025. Her August 3 order also dismissed the case with prejudice as to all parties and claims, concluding the litigation after completion of the settlement and claims process.
The school awards follow a separate contribution ordered as part of the same lawsuit. In September 2025, Akers directed The Children’s Place to provide an in-kind contribution with a retail value of $50,000 to Keep Your Faith Corporation, a nonprofit serving families on Charleston’s West Side.
Akers said public awareness of the distributions was important.
“I feel it is important to educate the public and be transparent when awarding money and/or community contributions to the public,” she said.
The class was represented by attorneys Troy Giatras and Matthew Stonestreet of Giatras Law Firm in Charleston and by Michael Cary of Cary Law Offices in Charleston.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 24-C-339
