The Honest Co. Seeks Dismissal of False Advertising Class Action

The Honest Company is arguing for dismissal of a consumer class action lawsuit over whether certain “natural” products are deceptively labeled.

Attorneys for defendant The Honest Company made their arguments in a letter to U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero, stating that plaintiffs Manon and Brad Buonasera have no standing to bring claims related to any Honest Company products other than the two products they say they purchased.

Plaintiffs are attempting to take issue with 39 other products that they never claimed they purchased or had any trouble with, according to the defendant’s letter.

The defendants say the plaintiffs implicate dozens of Honest Company products for home cleaning, baby care, and other uses, yet the only products they claim to have purchased themselves are two hair-care products.

Allowing them to sue over the additional products would overexpand the scope of their Honest Company class action lawsuit, the company argues.

The Honest Company also states that terms such as “natural,” “plant-based” and “harsh” are too nebulous to base a claim of false advertising on.

In their Honest Company lawsuit, the Buonaseras allege that the products at issue are advertised as being “natural” or “plant-based” when in fact they supposedly contain “harsh” chemicals.

The Honest Company says these terms are too amorphous to base a determination of truth or falsity on. Therefore there’s no objectively reasonable basis that a jury could use to decide whether these representations constituted false advertising, and for that reason the plaintiffs’ claims should be dismissed, the company argues.

Defendant’s attorneys also state that the Buonaseras’ claims for injunctive relief should be dismissed since the couple does not allege any future intent to purchase or use any of the contested products. They also say the plaintiffs’ claim for unjust enrichment should be dismissed because it essentially duplicates other claims made in their Honest Company class action lawsuit.

The Buonaseras filed The Honest Company class action lawsuit earlier this year. They say they purchased Conditioning Detangler and Shampoo + Body Wash under The Honest Company’s brand with the impression that both those products were “natural,” as their labeling described them.

But a closer look at the products’ ingredient lists revealed otherwise, according to the plaintiffs. They say these and other products made by The Honest Company contain dozens of ingredients that are “synthetic and toxic.”

The plaintiffs say that if they had known about the presence of these ingredients, they never would have bought the products in question.

The Buonaseras seek to represent a Class of New York consumers who purchased these products and others made by The Honest Company that were allegedly deceptively labeled.

Representing the Buonaseras are attorneys Yvette Golan of the Golan Law Firm; Kim Richman of the Richman Law Group; Todd S. Garber and D. Gregory Blankinship of Finkelstein Blaninship Frei-Pearson & Garber LLP; Beth Terrell and Samuel Strauss of Terrell Marshall Daudt & Willie PLLC.

The Honest Company Deceptive Labeling Class Action Lawsuit is Buonasera, et al. v. The Honest Co. Inc., et al., Case No. 7:16-cv-01125, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

UPDATE: Plaintiffs continue to urge the judge not to dismiss the Honest Co. mislabeling class action lawsuit.

UPDATE 2: On June 30, 2017, Jessica Alba’s The Honest Co. Inc. agreed to pay $7.35 million to settle four class action lawsuits accusing it of falsely marketing its products as “all natural.”

UPDATE 3: The Honest Company mislabeling class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.

UPDATE 4: On Feb. 26, 2018, Top Class Actions viewers who filed a valid claim for The Honest Company mislabeling class action settlement started receiving checks in the mail worth as much as $210.25.