Earth Friendly Products ‘Natural’ Class Action Settlement

Venus Laboratories has agreed to pay $925,000 and change the labeling on its Earth Friendly cleaning products in order to settle a class action lawsuit.

Plaintiffs Rebekah Baharestan and Jena McIntyre of California filed the Earth Friendly class action lawsuit over allegations that the cleaning products contain labels that inaccurately and deceptively claim to have “natural” ingredients.

According to the Earth Friendly products class action lawsuit, one of the unnatural ingredients is methylisothiazolinone (MIT) which plaintiffs claim is a powerful allergen and skin irritant.

As part of the Earth Friendly “natural” class action settlement, Venus has agreed to pay Class Members from the settlement fund, change the formula of Dishmate to remove the MIT ingredient, limit the use of terms “all-natural” and “100% natural” from product labels and make certain changes to its website.

Venus denies that Earth Friendly products contain deceptive labels however, they have agreed to the terms of the class action settlement in order to avoid the cost of further litigation.

UPDATE: On Mar. 17, 2016, according to the settlement website, the court granted final approval of the settlement on Mar. 16, 2016. Those who submitted a valid and timely Claim Form should be mailed a check on May 20, 2016.

UPDATE 2: On May 23, 2016, Top Class Actions readers started receiving checks worth as much as $24 from the Earth Friendly class action settlement. 

Who’s Eligible

The false advertising class action lawsuit settlement is open to all Class Members in the United States who purchased any products in the Earth Friendly line that had a label containing the words “All-Natural,” “100% Natural,” “Naturally-derived,” “Plant-based,” “Plant-derived,” or “Natural” between Jan. 23, 2011 and Nov. 5, 2015.

Potential Award

Up to $25.

Earth Friendly class action settlement Class Members will receive $1.50 for each ECOS® Laundry Detergent Product purchased and $1.00 for each Other Earth Friendly Product during the Class period up to $25 per household.

Proof of Purchase

N/A.

Proof of purchase is not required but Class Members must file a Claim Form before Feb. 15, 2016. Only one Claim Form is permitted for each household, and two or more Class Members may not submit Claim Forms for the same alleged damage.

Claim Form

CLICK HERE TO FILE A CLAIM »

Claim Form Deadline

02/15/2016

Case Name

Baharestan, et al. v. Venus Laboratories, Inc. Case No. 0:15-cv-03578 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Final Hearing

03/15/2016

Settlement Website

www.EarthFriendlySettlement.com

Claims Administrator

Venus Earth Friendly Products Settlement
c/o Dahl Administration
PO Box 3614
Minneapolis, MN 55403-0614
888-236-5349

Email: info@EarthFriendlySettlement.com

Class Counsel

Mark N. Todzo
LEXINGTON LAW GROUP

Melissa W. Wolchansky
HALUNEN LAW

Defense Counsel

Daniel J. Delaney
DRINKER BIDDLE