Shop-Vac Class Action Says Horsepower is Misleading

A class action lawsuit claims that Shop-Vac Corporation misrepresents the horsepower of its vacuums.

The vacuum horsepower class action lawsuit was filed by Kevin Johnson who says he purchased a Shop-Vac 16 Gallon 6.5 Peak HP Stainless Steel Contractor Wet Dry Vac in June 2018.

Johnson alleges that he made his purchase selection after reviewing the product’s labeling and packaging, and saw that the vacuum had a horsepower rating of 6.5 Peak HP.

The plaintiff says he relied on this information to choose this vacuum over comparable models.

The Shop-Vac class action lawsuit asserts that Johnson understood these advertisements to be representations and warranties that the vacuum was capable of producing the “6.5 Peak HP” during normal use and operation.

However, Johnson says that his vacuum cannot perform at the advertised horsepower. The Shop-Vac class action states that had he known the vacuum could not perform at the advertised horsepower, he would not have purchased it or would not have paid as much for it as he did.

Additionally, Johnson notes that he paid a premium for his vacuum specifically because he believed it to have a high horsepower.

The Shop-Vac horsepower class action lawsuit asserts that Shop-Vac knowingly misrepresents the horsepower of a number of its vacuums in an attempt to entice customers into purchasing them.

The Shop-Vac false advertising class action lawsuit says that many customers were similarly misled about the horsepower of the Shop-Vac vacuums they purchased.

The Shop-Vac class action lawsuit goes on to say that the Shop-Vac vacuums are uniformly label as having between a 2.5 Peak HP and a 6.5 Peak HP.

The Shop-Vac class action lawsuit says that horsepower ratings are dependent on how much electricity is available in a circuit, and states that the amount of electricity available in a standard household outlet is not capable of powering 6.5 horsepower.

Allegedly, no standard household outlets have the capacity to power over 0.5 horsepower, and if a device tried to pull more power, then it would cause the circuit to break and power would be shut off.

Johnson says that Shop-Vac Corporation knew or should have known that their vacuums could not perform at the advertised horsepower because all of their vacuums come with plugs that work with standard outlets.

Allegedly, the company knowingly designed the vacuums to work with standard outlets which they know cannot allow the vacuums to perform as advertised.

The company misrepresented the vacuums because customers associate horsepower with quality and effectiveness, the Shop-Vac class action states.

Johnson is represented by Frederick J. Klorczyk III and Neal J. Deckant of Bursor & Fisher PA.

The Shop-Vac Horsepower Class Action Lawsuit is Kevin Johnson v. Shop-Vac Corporation, Case No. 3:19-cv-14834-BRM-DEA, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

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