Hatworld, Poptropica Class Action Lawsuits Filed over Website Terms

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A New Jersey woman has filed two near identical class action lawsuits alleging Hatworld Inc. and Sandbox Networks Inc.’s website terms of use contain illegal provisions that violate consumers’ legal rights.

Plaintiff Bronwyn Nahas has taken issue with the terms of use conditions that Hatworld Inc. and Sandbox Networks Inc. have set forth on their respective websites.

Nahas contends that these stipulations impose on New Jersey consumers “involuntary, illegal, and unenforceable limitations of consumer rights and remedies.”

She argues that these terms of use provisions are in direct violation of the New Jersey Truth-in-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act or TCCWNA.

The TCCWNA states that “no seller…shall in the course of his business offer…or enter into any written consumer contract…which includes any provision that violates any clearly established legal right of a consumer or responsibility of a seller…as established by [New Jersey] or Federal law…”

Hatworld Inc. markets, sells, and delivers a variety of consumer products to New Jersey consumers through it websites, www.lids.com and www.hatworld.com and forces consumers who purchase the merchandise to enter into a binding agreement, the lawsuit states.

According to Nahas, she purchased a hat through one of the company’s websites on Feb. 13, 2016.

However, the company’s terms of use violate the TCCWNA, the lawsuit claims. For instance, the Terms & Conditions Exclusion of the Liability Associated with Use of the Sites provision illegally attempts to limit New Jersey consumers’ entitlement to consequential damages for personal injuries and attorneys’ fees and costs for statutory claims. It also attempts to limit Hatworld’s liability for intentional and wanton acts.

Similarly, Nahas claims that Sandbox Network’s Poptropica, an online role-playing game for children, terms of use attempts to deceive New Jersey consumers into believing that they are not entitled to enforce their statutory and common laws rights.

Nahas purchased a Poptropica membership for personal use in April 2012 and alleges she was subjected to the company’s consumer terms of use inclusions.

According to Bahas’ Poptropica lawsuit, the company is legally prohibited by the TTWNA from stating that “any of its provisions is or may be void, unenforceable or inapplicable in some jurisdiction without specifying which provisions are or are not void, unenforceable or inapplicable within the State of New Jersey.”

Essentially, Nahas asserts that the provisions stated in both Sandbox Networks and Hatworld’s terms of use agreements improperly release the companies of any liability for damages caused to the consumer, even when the damages are the direct result of the companies’ negligence.

Nahas, and other future Class Members, are requesting class action certification for both the Hatworld and Poptropica lawsuits and are seeking restitution and disgorgement, civil penalties of at least $100 per violation for each Class Member, along with injunctive relief barring the defendants’ from asserting or enforcing the alleged illegal provisions in their Terms & Conditions.

The plaintiffs in the Hatworld class action lawsuit are represented by Keefe Bartels LLC and Kopelowitz Ostrow Ferguson Weiselberg and Gilbert Law Firm.

The Law Offices of Wayne S. Kreger is representing the plaintiffs in the Poptropica class action lawsuit.

The Poptropica Class Action Lawsuit is Bronwyn Nahas v. Sandbox Networks Inc., Case No. 1:16-cv-02864-LAK in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The Hatworld Class Action Lawsuit is Bronwyn Nahas v. Hatworld Inc., Case No. 2:16-cv-02267 in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey.