Class Action Lawsuit Accuses Ergo Baby of Deceptive Marketing

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A class action lawsuit has been filed against The Ergo Baby Carrier Inc., alleging the box for the Ergobaby infant baby carrier fails to clearly inform consumers that they must purchase an additional sleeve insert for babies who weigh less than 12 pounds.

Plaintiff Jillian Circelli-Hawkins filed the Ergobaby class action lawsuit, claiming she paid $120 for an Ergobaby carrier for her newborn baby last year. She alleges that nothing on the outside of the box indicated she would need to purchase an additional sleeve insert to make the baby carrier safe for a baby weighing less than 12 pounds.

“It was not until the inadequately labeled and packaged product was purchased and opened that Circelli-Hawkins discovered that the ‘sleeve’ insert would be necessary to be purchased in order to use the device safely for a baby weighing less than 12 lbs.,” the Ergobaby class action lawsuit says. According to the Ergobaby website, infant inserts cost between $25 and $38.

The Ergobaby class action lawsuit also alleges that the Ergobaby carrier is the only baby carrier available in stores that cannot be used to carry an 8-pound baby without an additional insert. Circelli-Hawkins claims Ergobaby’s packaging and labeling is “false, deceptive and misleading.”

This is not the first time Ergobaby has been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging it deceptively marketed its baby carriers. Last fall, plaintiff Jessica Lloyd filed a misleading marketing class action lawsuit alleging the Ergo Baby Organic Baby Carrier contained a hidden warning label indicating the need for consumers to purchase an additional insert for babies weighing less than 12 pounds, even though the product was advertised as being safe for newborns.

“By hiding or misrepresenting the limitations of the baby carrier, defendant fraudulently or negligently collected and continues to collect money from the plaintiff and the class,” Lloyd argues in her Ergobaby class action lawsuit. “The defendant did not disclose the illegality of this practice to past, current or future purchasers and continues to implement this practice.”

Earlier this summer, Ergo Baby filed a motion to dismiss the false advertising class action lawsuit, arguing that the plaintiff didn’t claim to rely on any of the allegedly false advertisements when she purchased the baby carrier.

The Ergobaby Deceptive Marketing Class Action Lawsuit is Jillian Circelli-Hawkins v. The Ergo Baby Carrier Inc., et al., Case No. BC525894, in the Superior Court of the State of California.