$2.4M Settlement Reached In Johnson & Johnson Baby Wash Suit

A $2.4 million settlement has been proposed to resolve claims that Johnson & Johnson baby wash is not “natural” as the company claims.

In her recent motion, lead plaintiff Heidi Langan said that she and Johnson & Johnson agreed to settle the class action lawsuit in October. The $2.4 million settlement deal they agreed on will resolve Langan’s claims and benefit thousands of Class Members with similar grievances. The settlement provides a route for both parties to resolve the suit without continuing the long, drawn out court battle they were engaged in.

“In a battle of experts, it is virtually impossible to predict with any certainty which expert’s testimony would be credited and accepted by the fact­finder,” Langan said in her motion. “Even if plaintiff prevailed on the issue of liability, there would still be risks in establishing damages. Plaintiff would then have to defend any successful outcome from appellate review.”

Langan added that “the experience of proposed class counsel has taught that the above described factors can make the outcome extremely lengthy and uncertain.”

Settlement Class Members would include consumers who purchased Johnson & Johnson’s Aveeno Baby Wash and Shampoo before November 2012 and Aveeno Calming Comfort Bath baby wash before November 2013. Start dates vary depending on which state a Class Member is from. The Class includes various states including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, New York, Wisconsin, Florida, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Washington, Arkansas, Missouri, Michigan, New Jersey, Vermont, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia.

Although there are variations in state laws, Langan argues that the Class is only for settlement purposes and therefore should not be subject to the same careful examination typically associated with class certification.

“Plaintiff seeks preliminary class certification for settlement purposes only,” Langan notes. “Even if this Court were to find variations in the state laws during its ‘close look,’ those variations (which are minor) are largely irrelevant to the certification of the Class for settlement purposes.”

Under the Johnson & Johnson baby wash settlement, Class Members will receive $1 per purchase of either Aveeno product with a limit of $15 per Class Member. Any unclaimed money in the settlement fund would be donated to the Nurse-Family Partnership.

Langan will receive a $5,000 service award and class counsel could receive up to 30 percent of the settlement fund, around $720,000, for attorneys’ fees.

Langan filed her claims against Johnson & Johnson in 2013, alleging that the baby wash products were falsely advertised as “natural” despite containing synthetic ingredients. She also filed a similar suit regarding Aveeno sunscreen products in the same year, bring similar claims regarding the use of “natural” advertising statements.

The proposed Class won certification in the Johnson & Johnson baby wash class action in March 2017, but certification was not granted in the Aveeno sunscreen class action lawsuit. However, in June 2017, Langan and Johnson & Johnson agreed to settle the Aveeno sunscreen class action.

Langan is represented by Mark P. Kindall of Izard Kindall & Raabe LLP and Nicole Veno of the Law Office of Nicole A. Veno LLC.

The Johnson & Johnson Baby Wash Class Action Lawsuit is Langan v. Johnson & Johnson Companies Inc., Case No. 3:13­cv­0147, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.

UPDATE: February 2019, the Aveeno natural baby wash class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim. 

UPDATE 2: On Jan. 13, 2020, Top Class Actions viewers started receiving checks in the mail from the Aveeno natural baby wash class action settlement worth as much as $14.97. Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got PAID!