New Balance ‘Made In USA’ Class Action Settlement Gets Initial OK

A $750,000 settlement has been preliminarily approved to resolves claims that New Balance shoes are falsely advertised as “Made in the USA.”

U.S. District Judge M. James Lorenz approved the deal on Thursday which would benefit consumers who purchased New Balance shoes labeled with “Made in the USA” in California since Dec. 27, 2012.

The settlement Class will be led by plaintiffs Sheila Dashnaw, William Meier, and Sheryl Jones and will exclude New Balance employees, resellers, and other affiliated parties.

Shoes which qualify consumers for compensation include the following model numbers: 601, ML996, M1140, ML997, M1290, MR1105, M1300, MR993, M1400, MW812, M1540, PM15, M1700, PM16, M2040, US574, M3040, US576, M498, US990, M574, US993, M585, US998, M587, W1140, M770, W1290, M990, W1400, M991, W1540, M995, W3040, M996, W498, M997, W587, M9975, W990, M998, W998, MK706, WK706, ML1300, WR993, ML1978, and WW812.

Under the New Balance shoes class action settlement, consumers who purchased these shoes will be eligible to collect $10 per pair, up to five pairs. Settlement payouts will max out at $50 per customer and $100 per household.

Funds unused by the settlement will reportedly go to the Public Justice Foundation and Consumer Federation of California.

Plaintiffs filed their “Made in the USA” class action lawsuit against New Balance in early 2017, claiming that the company portrays their tennis shoes as made in the United States when at least 30 percent of the shoes components and labor is foreign.

The New Balance class action argued that reasonable consumers assume that the brand’s representations are factual and that 100 percent of the shoes are made and sourced from within the country.

New Balance allegedly used their “Made in the USA” labeling to charge between $164.99 and $369.99 for shoes when the brand sold shoes without the “Made in the USA” advertising for less than $100.

In November 2017, New Balance fought against the plaintiffs’ motion for Class certification by claiming that it was “a good corporate citizen” which supports the hiring of American workers despite the profit margins lost by manufacturing shoes in the country. The company argued that the majority of consumers reported not being influenced by the “Made in USA” marketing which weakens the plaintiffs’ argument.

In April 2018, the settlement was first proposed, but Judge Lorenz denied the settlement in October 2018 due to faulty calculations. $215,000 was set aside for administration costs and compensation which left only $535,000 for almost 1 million settlement Class Members.

In order for all Class Members to receive the $10 proposed payment, Judge Lorenz noted that there would have to be an “abysmally low” participation rate of five percent.

Plaintiffs responded to this in November, saying that $10 per shoe pair was the maximum recovery available for Class Members and that $3 to $5 per shoe pair was still a good outcome. This lower recovery would happen if 10 to 15 percent of Class Members filed valid claims.

The consumers also noted that New Balance shoes are sold by a variety of retailers, meaning that identifying and informing Class Members will be difficult – making it unlikely that more than 15 percent of Class Members would file claims.

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

Plaintiffs are represented by Aubry Wand of the Wand Law Firm, and Todd N. Schneider, Kyle G. Bates and Jason H. Kim of Schneider Wallace Cottrell Konecky & Wotkyns LLP.

The New Balance “Made in the USA” Shoes Class Action Lawsuit is Dashnaw, et al. v. New Balance Athletics Inc., Case No. 3:17-­cv­-00159, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

UPDATE: On April 1, 2019, the California New Balance “Made in the USA” class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.

UPDATE 2: On Sept. 21, 2019, Top Class Actions viewers started receiving checks from the California New Balance shoes class action settlement worth as much as $20. Congratulations to everyone who filed a valid claim and got PAID!