An NDG woman thinks customers who purchase "women's" hygiene products are routinely ripped-off by gender-specific pricing.

Aviva Maxwell has teamed up with lawyers at Montreal firm Legal Logik to go after big retail chains including WalMart, Loblaws, and Jean Coutou with a class action lawsuit seeking the difference, plus damaged for everyone who's purchased these products.

"We have an excellent example in Aviva Maxwell, a single mother with 3 children who's in a budget." says lawyer Jamie Benizri. "What she noticed is that the price point is about a dollar and change more for a female Degree antiperspirant. On a per gram basis the female shopper is paying about 40% more for the exact same product."

The gendered price difference is well documented, with studies showing an average 43% difference in price between "men's" and "women's" toiletries, from deodorant to razors and shaving cream.

Maxwell says it's time for that to change.

"What I really want to impress on my kids is just when Mom works hard or when Dad works hard it's worth the same thing," she says. "His shouldn't be worth more than mine, we both have the same value when we work hard."

The lawsuit seeks reimbursement for the price difference of gendered products, plus $50 in moral damages and $50 for “unlawful and intentional violation of the right to gender equality”.

A successful case could cost the retailers in excess of 100 million dollars.