Old Spice Chemical Burn Alleged in Two Class Action Lawsuits

Two proposed class action lawsuits have been filed against Proctor & Gamble alleging that the company’s popular Old Spice deodorant caused users to develop severe chemical burns.

Plaintiff Rodney Colley filed his proposed class action lawsuit on March 11. Rodney said that he developed severe rashes under his arms after using Old Spice deodorant, despite the fact that the company’s website listed that the deodorant had “no known effect” when it came to potential skin irritation.

The Old Spice deodorant rash happened after just a few uses, according to the Old Spice class action lawsuit. The plaintiff alleges that 13 products may cause a similar Old Spice deodorant rash in users since the products use a similar formula.

“As a direct and proximate result of Old Spice’s pattern and practice with respect to the sale of its deodorant products, consumers were/are personally injured and/or have paid for the use of a full product when in fact they are forced to discard the product after only a few uses and, therefore, are also economically damaged by being deprived the intended use and purpose of the Product,” Colley’s complaint read.

This Old Spice chemical burn class action lawsuit has brought multiple counts against Proctor and Gamble including manufacturing defect, design defect, inadequate warnings or instruction, failure to conform to representations, product liability, violation of Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act, breach of implied warranty of merchantability and unjust enrichment.

Colley seeks to represent a national class of consumers who purchased Old Spice deodorant from 2012 to the present.

In addition to class certification, Colley is seeking restitution and reimbursement, disgorgement of profits, various damages, attorneys’ fees and costs of litigation.

The second plaintiff to recently file a lawsuit, Tarence Colbert, filed his lawsuit on behalf of himself and others similarly situated on April 8, 2016.

Like Colley, Colbert claimed that after just a few uses, he began to have Old Spice deodorant burns, rashes, discomfort and skin discoloration. He claims that similar allegations of Old Spice chemical burn issues had surfaced as online complaints as early as 2010.

Colbert hopes to represent both a nationwide class and a New York subclass of Old Spice users from 2010 to the present.

He has brought forth several counts against the company over the alleged Old Spice chemical burn incident including breach of warranty, violations of New York General Business Law, unjust enrichment, negligence- failure to warn, negligence – failure to test, strict product liability and fraudulent concealment/fraudulent inducement.

On behalf of himself and the class, Colbert seeks class certification, a variety of damages including actual, general, special, incidental, statutory, punitive, treble and consequential, an injunction to stop the alleged unlawful practices and attorneys’ fees and costs.

The Old Spice Chemical Burn Deodorant Class Action Lawsuits are Rodney Colley v. Procter & Gamble Co., Case No. 2:16-cv-00225-MHW-KAJ, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio and Tarence Colbert v. Proctor & Gamble Co., Case No. 1:16-cv-02636  in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.