Michael A. Kakuk  |  December 19, 2016

Category: Consumer News

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artificial turf tile on a white backgroundA class action lawsuit filed against synthetic field manufacturer FieldTurf alleges that the company falsely advertised its defective product.

The complaint asserts that FieldTurf continues to market its synthetic grass products “FieldTurf,” “Duraspine,” and “Prestige” as lasting for at least 10 years with minimum maintenance, even though the company knew as early as 2006 that its product was defective.

The FieldTurf class action lawsuit states that cities, school districts, universities, and others purchased FieldTurf products based on “material misrepresentations and omissions.”

The class action notes that during and after the Great Recession in 2007, “public funding was at an all-time low,” and municipalities were looking for any way to save money.

The complaint contends that FieldTurf took advantage of the situation, and heavily marketed its products as money saving, because they were durable and low maintenance. One advertisement copied in the complaint states that FieldTurf is “sometimes almost $1,000,000 cheaper!”

However, the class action argues that FieldTurf knew that its claims were misleading for years. The complaint cites an email from a FieldTurf executive in 2007 that says that they knew their advertising “was ‘ridiculous’ and opened up the company ‘to tons of exposure from a legal standpoint.’”

By 2009, according to the class action, FieldTurf had received a substantial number of complaints from its customers about “premature deterioration of the fibers in their athletic fields.”

In 2011, the company sued the manufacturer of its synthetic fibers, alleging that FieldTurf had spent millions of dollars repairing the defective product. The complaint reports that the parties settled that lawsuit in 2014.

However, despite these red flags, the complaint states that FieldTurf continued its false advertising and earned more than $570 million selling almost 1,500 fields.

“Rather than adjust its campaign strategy to reflect this reality or simply warn existing and new customers about the defective nature of the Synthetic Grass Fields, FieldTurf chose to maximize profits and maintain its leading market share,” the class action asserts.

The plaintiff Borough of Carteret is a municipality in New Jersey that claims to have purchased synthetic grass fields from FieldTurf in 2006, 2007, and 2010. Carteret spent almost $4 million on six fields, based on the claims made by the FieldTurf sales representative that the fields would be low maintenance and last more than 10 years.

Carteret says one of the fields started to wear in just six years, and currently three of the fields have prematurely deteriorated.

According to the complaint, FieldTurf has failed to repair to replace those fields, or otherwise live up to its warranty.

The lawsuit requests certification of a Class of all consumers in the U.S. who purchased a synthetic grass field from FieldTurf. The class action seeks damages, a refund of “all unjust benefits” by FieldTurf, and an “immediate injunction” stopping the company’s deceptive marketing.

The Borough of Carteret is represented by Michael M. DiCicco and Christopher B. Healy of Bathgate, Wegener & Wolf PC, and Adam M. Moskowitz, Thomas A. Tucker, Tal J. Lifshitz, and Michael R. Lorigas of Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton LLP.

The FieldTurf Defective Synthetic Grass Class Action Lawsuit is The Borough of Carteret v. FieldTurf USA Inc., et al., Case No. 2:16-cv-09252, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

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