J&J Baby Bedtime Products Class Action Limited to N.J. Residents

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A New Jersey federal judge has ruled that a putative consumer class action lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson for alleged deceptive labeling and advertising practices related to their line of Bedtime products, which are marketed to help babies sleep better, will be limited to New Jersey state residents and remanded back to Superior Court.

U.S. District Court Judge Jerome B. Simandle ruled that the proposed class action claiming that Johnson & Johnson’s alleged false advertising of its Bedtime Bath and Bedtime Lotion products failed to meet the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) requirements in order to invoke federal jurisdiction, denying J&J’s motion to transfer the case to California and consolidating it with three other pending J&J Bedtime products lawsuits.

“It is readily apparent that plaintiff has chosen to limit the proposed class to citizens of this state, and the court is not at liberty at this stage to reject plaintiff’s class definition and render a different interpretation,” the judge wrote. “Nor does the court find the restriction to New Jersey plaintiffs problematic.”

Jillian Gallagher, on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated, filed the proposed class action lawsuit last August in U.S. District Court of the District of New Jersey against Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., alleging its Bedtime Bath and Bedtime Lotion products don’t perform as advertised.

Specifically, the lawsuit targets Johnson & Johnson’s Bedtime products, which report to be “clinically proven to help baby sleep better.” The class action lawsuit alleges the back of the bottles say a nighttime routine of a warm bath and gentle massage using the company’s products, along with quiet activities, will help babies sleep better.

However, Gallagher said in the class action lawsuit that no studies show J&J’s Bedtime products help babies sleep better, and Johnson & Johnson “has no basis to make the claims about its products.”

Furthermore, the company charges at least $1 more for its Bedtime products compared to its other baby washes and lotions, the suit says. Since the claims were allegedly false, customers paid a premium price for the Bedtime products even though there was no additional benefit, the lawsuit said.

Gallagher has requested the court to remand the complaint to New Jersey Superior Court claiming that because the proposed Class consisted solely of New Jersey citizens, that CAFA’s two-thirds requirements for federal jurisdiction were not met and that Class Members failed to satisfy the minimum diversity condition for a nationwide class action lawsuit.

The judge agreed and denied J&J’s claim for a transfer to a consolidated nationwide Class stating that “Johnson & Johnson is, of course, correct that non-New Jersey citizens who bought Bedtime products will benefit if defendant is forced to change the label, but that argument holds little sway. All consumers of a product benefit from a class action when the product is changed to comply with the law, but that alone does not transform them into real parties in interest.”

The proposed Class is represented by James C. Shah and Natalie Finkelman Bennett of Shepherd Finkelman Miller & Shah LLP, John W. Trimble of Trimble & Armano, and Jayne A. Goldstein of Pomerantz LLP.

The Johnson & Johnson Bedtime Products Class Action Lawsuit is Gallagher, et al. v. Johnson & Johnson Consumer Cos. Inc., Case No. 1:15-cv-06163, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

UPDATE: The Johnson’s bedtime bath products class action settlement is now open! Click here to file a claim!

UPDATE 2: On May 27, 2017, Top Class Actions viewers who filed valid claims for the Johnson’s Bedtime Bath products class action settlement arestarting to receive checksin the mail!