Class Action Says Costco Flushable Wipes Plug Plumbing

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Last week, a class action lawsuit was filed in New York federal court against the wholesale goods company Costco Wholesale Corp. alleging that its “flushable” toilet wipe product tends to clog up bathroom plumbing.

Lead plaintiff Desmond Armstrong claims in his class action lawsuit that the Costco brand wipes are marketed as flushable, but have been clogging up the plumbing in his Oregon home for months. The wipes are allegedly manufactured by another company and defendant named in the class action lawsuit, Nice-Pak Products Inc.

Armstrong alleges that many other individuals have been affected by the misleadingly marketed flushable wipes. According to the flushable wipes class action lawsuit, Nice-Pak Products reached a settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission last Monday. Nice-Pak has promised to stop advertising the wipes as flushable unless it can substantiate otherwise, according to the agreement with the FTC. Many other Costco consumers have experienced clogged plumbing and even flooding, alleges the flushable wipes class action lawsuit.

“Plaintiff and members of the class would not have purchased the flushable wipes and/or paid the purchase price for the flushable wipes if they knew that flushing the wipes would cause the wipes to become clogged in sewer or septic systems,” says the class action lawsuit. The plaintiff alleges that he and others would have paid more for a product that they could flush successfully.

“Cities across the country have suffered thousands, if not millions, of dollars in damage to city sewer and water systems due to flushable wipes,” the flushable wipes class action lawsuit alleges. Nice-Pak and Costco are not the only companies to produce not-so-flushable wipes, according to Armstrong. The Costco class action lawsuit alleges that all of the companies failed to adequately test the products for their ability to dissolve in water under the circumstances that would be found in actual sewer systems.

According to the flushable wipes class action lawsuit, the wipes were tested for the ability to dissolve over the course of hours. “However, utility officials say that wipes cause a problem because in actuality, they reach a pump in just a matter of minutes,” alleges the class action lawsuit. Wipes are different from regular toilet paper because they are marketed as moist and need to maintain their structure when wet. According to the class action lawsuit, this causes major plumbing problems when used.

Armstrong seeks statutory, compensatory and punitive damages for breach of express warranty and negligent misrepresentation, as well an injunction ordering Costco to set the record straight through corrective advertising explaining that the wipes shouldn’t be flushed, according to the class action lawsuit.

Armstrong is represented by Samuel H. Rudman, Mark S. Reich, Sean T. Masson, Lauren E. Karalis, Stuart A. Davidson and Mark Dearman of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP.

The Costco Flushable Wipes Class Action Lawsuit is Armstrong v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, et al., Case No. 1:15-cv-02909, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

UPDATE: On Feb. 3, 2017, a New York federal judge transferred this case to the plaintiff’s home state of Oregon.