Honest Company Can’t Escape ‘Natural’ Label Class Action Lawsuit

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The Honest Company will continue to face a putative class action lawsuit that alleges its cleaning products are mislabeled as being “natural” even though they contain artificial or synthetic ingredients, following a federal judge’s decision.

U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt determined that, for the most part, the plaintiffs’ allegations were adequate to state false advertisement claims against defendant The Honest Company.

The judge granted the motion as to certain allegations, dismissing the plaintiffs’ claims for quasi-contract and negligent misrepresentation and their request for injunctive relief. The dismissal is without prejudice, giving plaintiffs a chance to fix the defects and resubmit those claims.

Over Honest Company’s argument to the contrary, Judge Kronstadt determined the plaintiffs have standing to pursue claims over products they did not actually purchase.

Even though all the products at issue don’t share the same ingredients or the exact same labeling, the alleged misrepresentations establish a common theme of holding out allegedly non-natural products as being “natural,” the judge reasoned.

Plaintiff Jonathan Rubin filed the initial Honest Company class action lawsuit in September 2015. A few days later, another action was filed by plaintiff Shane Michael, and the two actions were consolidated in December 2015.

Rubin and Michael are now joined by three other named plaintiffs. Together, they allege that the Honest Company falsely advertises several of its products as both natural and effective.

The plaintiffs are challenging the defendant’s labeling on Honest Hand Soap, Honest Dish Soap, Honest Diapers, Honest Multi-Surface Cleaner and Honest Sunscreen. They claim Honest Company falsely advertises these products as being “natural” when they actually contain non-natural ingredients.

Labeling for the contested products allegedly contains representations like “all natural” and “no artificial ingredients.” At the same time, plaintiffs say these products contain human-made ingredients like methylisothiazolinone, cocamidopropyl betaine, phenoxyethanol and sodium polyacrylate.

By the plaintiffs’ estimate, they paid a 10 to 20 percent premium for Honest Company products that they would not have had to pay for similar products that were not labeled as being “natural.”

The plaintiffs also take issue with defendant’s Honest Sunscreen for allegedly being ineffective. Plaintiff Ethel Lung claims her children suffered a severe sunburn after using Honest Company sunscreen, which she was led to believe offers “broad spectrum SPF 30 protection.”

Plaintiffs propose to represent two Classes. A Natural Products Class consisting of all persons in the U.S. who purchased any of the products at issue without registering for membership with Honest Company during a specific period of time. The Sunscreen Class would represent all Class Members who purchased Honest Sunscreen specifically.

The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Nicholas A. Carlin and Brian S. Conlon of Phillips, Erlewine, Given & Carlin LLP, Jon W. Borderud of Law Offices of Jon W. Borderud, Leonard B. Simon of The Law Offices of Leonard B. Simon, Charles J. LaDuca and Michael J. Flannery of Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca LLP, J. Barton Goplerud and Brian O. Marty of Hudson Mallaney Shindler & Anderson, and Rebecca A. Peterson and Robert K. Shelquist of Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP.

The Honest Company “Natural” Label Class Action Lawsuit is Shane Michael v. Honest Company Inc., Case No. 2:15-cv-07059, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

UPDATE: 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 2: The Honest Company mislabeling class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.