Nordstrom, New Balance Class Action: Shoes Aren’t ‘Made in USA’

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Nordstrom Inc. and New Balance Athletics Inc. are facing a class action lawsuit that accuses them of misrepresenting certain running shoes as “Made in the USA” in violation of California law.

Plaintiff Joel D. Joseph initially filed the class action lawsuit against the retailers on March 3 in California state court, alleging Nordstrom and New Balance violated California’s Business and Professions Code and the Consumer Legal Remedies Act. Earlier this month, the defendants asked the court to transfer the class action lawsuit to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division.

According to the Made in USA class action lawsuit, Joseph is chairman and founder of the Made in USA Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes products that are made in the United States. He has filed the class action lawsuit as a private Attorney General action brought on behalf of the general public in order to “remedy violations of California’s state consumer protection statutes.”

Joseph claims that he purchased a pair of New Balance shoes from Nordstrom at Santa Monica Place in the last year. According to the Made in USA class action lawsuit, the product included a “Made in the USA” label on the box and a “USA” label on the shoes. However, Joseph claims the shoes contain more than 10 percent imported components and therefore cannot be labeled with a “Made in the USA” label under California law.

According to the Nordstrom class action lawsuit, Joseph also purchased a pair of AG Jeans shorts from the NordstromRack.com website. Because AG Jeans makes most of its apparel in the United States and the website did not indicate the shorts were imported, Joseph says he believed that the shorts he purchased would be made in the USA. However, Joseph says the shorts were actually made in Mexico.

The New Balance class action lawsuit asserts that most consumers believe that products that include the Made in USA label are higher-quality than imported products. Under California law, retailers that sell merchandise in the state are prohibited from selling products labeled as “Made in USA,” “Made in America,” or something similar when the product has not been at least 90 percent made, manufactured or produced in the United States.

Joseph seeks to represent a Class of consumers who purchased New Balance athletic shoes from Nordstrom that included a “Made in the USA” or “USA” label in the past three years in California. He also seeks to represent consumers who purchased clothing from Nordstrom online that had a label that did not accurately describe the country of origin.

The Made in USA class action lawsuit seeks damages, a requirement that the defendants accurately label the country of origin on their products, an asset freeze and constructive trust over all “ill-gotten monies,” an injunction against the sale of shoes that have inaccurate country of origin labels, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorneys’ fees, and punitive damages. Joseph also seeks an injunction requiring Nordstrom to include country of origin information on all internet sites that sell apparel, as required by the Textile Act.

Joseph is representing himself in this Made in the USA class action lawsuit.

The Nordstrom, New Balance “Made in USA” Class Action Lawsuit is Joel D. Joseph v. Nordstrom Inc. and New Balance Athletics Inc., Case No. SC125489, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.