Canada Goose Can’t Shake Lawsuit Saying It Misled Consumers With ‘Ethical’ Claims, Judge Rules

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A Canadian clothing company known for making winter coats with coyote fur can’t escape a class action lawsuit alleging that it misled consumers by claiming its fur was ethically sourced, a New York federal judge has ruled.

In an order Tuesday, June 29, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero said Plaintiff George Lee’s class action lawsuit against Canada Goose could go ahead, despite the company’s attempts to have it dismissed as “subjective views,” Law360 reported.

In his lawsuit, Lee alleges Canada Goose violated federal warranty laws and state consumer laws by claiming in its marketing that it’s committed to “ethical, responsible and sustainable sourcing,” when in fact its suppliers use leg traps and neck snares that “cause strangulation and broken bones to coyotes and other animals who are inadvertently trapped and discarded.” 

He claims that fur trim included in Canada Goose products comes from trappers in places where there are no laws and regulations regarding the slaughter of trapped animals. 

However, the company says that its fur suppliers are strictly regulated and its fur comes from ethical and sustainable sources. Lee alleges Canada Goose made the misleading claims to make its products appeal to eco-friendly consumers. 

In his complaint, filed in 2020, he alleges Canada Goose “attempts to cultivate an image that its fur products are sourced using humane, sustainable, and ethical practices, when in fact they are not.”

On Tuesday, Judge Marreo said in his order that Lee had made a plausible argument, saying that his allegations support a “reasonable inference” that Canada Goose gets its fur from trappers whose methods are inhumane, despite making an outwards commitment to ethical fur sourcing.

“Plaintiff alleges that reasonable consumers consider ‘animal welfare’ to be an important factor in whether a product is ‘ethically produced,’ and that consumer-perception research indicates that terms such as ‘sustainably produced’ are perceived as signaling compliance with ‘higher animal welfare standards,'” he said. 

“These allegations are enough to establish at the pleading stage” that unsophisticated customers might be persuaded to act on the basis of the company’s statements.”

Lee also said Canada Goose products come with a tag saying its supply chain visibility ensured its fur was sourced in accordance with international trapping standards. However, he said the trapping methods its suppliers use have been banned as inhumane in several states across the United States.

This is not the first time Canada Goose has been accused of making false claims about ethical sourcing.

In 2019, PETA filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. Graphic film footage taken at one of Canada Goose’s down suppliers showed geese being grabbed and carried by their necks and piled on top of one another in pens, being deprived of food and water and forced to watch as other geese were being slaughtered.

Have you purchased a Canada Goose product with fur? What do you think of the class action allegations? Tell us in the comment section below!

George Lee is represented by Jay Russell Shooster and Kim E. Richman of Richman Law Group, and Samuel J. Strauss of Truke & Strauss LLP. 
The Canada Goose Misleading Claims Class Action Lawsuit is Lee et al. v. Canada Goose Inc., Case No. 1:20-cv-09809, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Canada Goose Makes False Animal Welfare Claims, Says Class Action Lawsuit
• Have You Been a Victim of Canada Goose False Advertising?
• Marketing Strategy Deception: Did Canada Goose Mislead You?
• The FTC Complaint That Sparked A Canada Goose Investigation