Amended Class Action Over Hand Sanitizer Effectiveness Filed Too Late, Says CVS

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CVS Hand Sanitizer Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: CVS Health is contesting an amended class action lawsuit filed by a consumer in March. 
• Why: CVS is arguing amended court documents were filed too close to the close of fact discovery date and the class action contending the retailer falsely advertised that its hand sanitizer “kills 99.99 percent of germs.”
• Where: The class action lawsuit is pending in California federal court. 

CVS Health says an amended class action lawsuit filed against the company alleging it misled consumers about the effectiveness of its hand sanitizer is “last minute gamesmanship,” on the behalf of the plaintiff, and should be dismissed. 

Plaintiff Joseph Mier originally lodged a class action lawsuit against CVS in March, in which he alleged the company falsely claimed its hand sanitizer could kill 99.9% of germs, when in fact there were a number of pathogens it could not destroy. 

Mier was ultimately granted leave at the time in order to plead a new cause of action for intentional misrepresentation, according to the motion, which claimed the plaintiffs counsel represented an amended class action lawsuit would be filed within 21 days. 

Co Argues for Dismissal of CVS Hand Sanitizer Class Action Claims

CVS says that, instead of filing his amended hand sanitizer class action, Mier spent the past five months filing motions seeking to assert claims on behalf of multi-state and nationwide Classes, forcing them to oppose each motion before he’d voluntarily abandon them. 

Mier finally filed the amended the hand sanitizer class action lawsuit two weeks ago — adding CVS Pharmacy as a defendant and listing a new individual cause of action for intentional misrepresentation — despite knowing it wouldn’t give the company time to properly address his new claims, since the close of fact discovery was already set for Sept. 7, according to CVS. 

“Plaintiff should not be allowed to file an FAC at this late stage given his lack of diligence, and the delay, disruption and prejudice that the FAC and related procedural maneuvering would wreak in this case,” states the motion. 

CVS also argued that, since Mier’s original class action lawsuit was already certified by a California federal judge in April, it would be too late for him to add another claim, since he would likely seek to add another Class certification, which there wouldn’t be time for. 

“Defendants will need to respond to the new class motion, and will likely need to provide new expert reports related to the new class issues, all the while conducting expert discovery on the merits, preparing dispositive motions on Plaintiffs’ other three claims, and preparing for trial,” states the motion. “This Court’s case management schedule was intended to prevent this type of last minute gamesmanship.” 

Do you think CVS should face the hand sanitizer class action lawsuit? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiff is represented by Justin F. Marquez, Thiago Coelho, Robert Dart, and Cinela Aziz of Wilshire Law Firm PLC.

The CVS Hand Sanitizer Class Action Lawsuit is Mier v. CVS Health, Case No. 8:20-cv-01979, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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