Coola Class Action Lawsuit Alleges False Sunscreen Claims

A woman from Chicago has filed a class action lawsuit against the Coola sunscreen company now that scientific testing has shown at least one of its products doesn’t offer the level of protection its marketing and labels promise.

Norah Flaherty says Coola misleads its customers by making claims that its products offer “full spectrum” skin protection when in fact they offer limited spectrum protection. She filed the class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division on Oct. 7.

Coola sunscreen markets several of its products as providing complete protection, including its Sun Silk Drops, Refreshing Water Mist, Mineral Sun Silk Crème and Mineral Sun Silk Moisturizer, according to the class action lawsuit. Flaherty claims none of them deliver what they say they will.

Her claim is based on the fact that she submitted a sample of Coola’s Sun Silk Drops product to be tested using a Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer, which measures the degree to which a substance or material absorbs infrared radiation and, conversely, the degree to which the infrared radiation passes through the sample.

If the Coola sunscreen did, in fact, provide full-spectrum protection against infrared light, none would pass through it. Flaherty’s class action lawsuit claims that was not what happened.

The testing done on the Sun Silk Drops sample revealed the product allowed, at minimum, 40% of the infrared light shot at it to pass through, the plaintiff says.

Coola sunscreen products are labeled and packaged with claims including “full 360 spectrum,” “Anti-Pollution” and “UVA/UVB/IR/HEV” in descending order on the packages, the class action lawsuit says.

Flaherty “would not have been able to understand that the products do not provide infrared light protection across the entire spectrum of infrared light without performing analysis on the products,” the class action lawsuit says.

Consumers “are not, and should not be, required to chemically test the products they purchase to know the true qualities of those products.”

Flaherty and others who purchase Coola sunscreen for its purported infrared light protection are part of a growing market of consumers aware of the potential ill effects that particular light can have on their skin.

Sunlight consists of multiple wavelengths of light, including ultraviolet radiation, visible light and infrared radiation — UV rays, VL and IR.

Representatives from the Estée Lauder Companies gave a presentation at the annual meeting of the Society for Investigative Dermatology in 2018 on the importance of protecting skin from infrared radiation, according to a report by online magazine Refinery29.

The skin experts told the group that a recent study of infrared radiation showed that it penetrates the skin to an even deeper level that UV rays, which were previously considered the most threatening to skin health.

“As a result of infrared on the skin, the study noted excessive collagen breakdown, excessive growth of blood vessels and a weakening of the skin’s matrix — in other words, fine lines,” the article said.

By advertising and labeling its products as providing full-spectrum protection against infrared light rays but not actually providing it, the Coola sunscreen company has violated Illinois consumer fraud regulations, the Flaherty class action lawsuit claims.

Flaherty also says Coola committed deceptive businesses practices, common law fraud, unjust enrichment and breach of warranty.

She is seeking a jury trial.

Have you ever purchased any of Coola’s products labeled to provide full-spectrum infrared light protection? Tell us about it in the comment section below.

Flaherty and the proposed Class Members are represented by Todd M. Friedman, Steven G. Perry and David B. Levin of The Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman PC.

The Coola Sunscreen Class Action Lawsuit is Norah Flaherty, et al. v. Coola LLC, Case No. 1:20-cv-05964, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

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