Jason, Avalon Organics Lawsuit Receives Class Certification

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A class action lawsuit against Hain Celestial over the alleged misuse of the word organic on its Avalon and Jason product labels received class certification by a California federal judge Friday.

U.S. District Judge Laurel Beeler certified two California classes of Hain Celestial customers — one for customers who purchased Jason brand products in California from May 12, 2007 through Jan. 31, 2011 “other than those Jason brand personal-care products that are USDA-certified as organic.”

The other class is for California customers who purchased Avalon Organics products from May 12, 2007 until the present “other than those Avalon Organics brand personal-care products that are USDA-certified as organic.”

Plaintiffs Rosiminah Brown and Eric Lohela had filed a motion for class certification in July and made their case for class certification before Judge Beeler on Nov. 6 and had asked for the two classes of Avalon Organics customers and Jason customers.

In September 2009, Brown claims that she purchased Jason Ester-C Super-C Cleanser Gentle Facial Wash believing that it was made of certified organic ingredients because it said on the label that it was “Pure, Natural & Organic.”

In December 2009, Lohela claims that he purchased Avalon Organics Lavender Hand and Body Lotion and assumed it was organic because of the word “organics” as well as a pledge on the front label that said that Hain was “Pro-Organic.” He also purchased other Avalon Organics products believing “that the statements on the front of the Avalon Organics labels were true — that the products either completely or at least mostly comprised organic ingredients.”

“The plaintiffs allege that Hain advertises, markets, and labels the challenged products as organic, when they contain insufficient organic content to lawfully make such claims,” Judge Beeler explains.

Brown and Lohela allege that that Hain has violated the California Organic Products Act (COPA), which requires products to contain 70 percent organic ingredients by weight in order for the word organic to be used on the label and the Jason and Avalon Organics cosmetics do not meet this requirement.

The Avalon Organics and Jason class action lawsuit against Hain Celestial was filed in May 2011 alleging that their products, which use the words “pure” and “organic” on its labels contain “significant amounts of non-organic ingredients.”

In December 2012, Hain tried to have the organic labeling class action lawsuit dismissed, saying that the word “organic” isn’t a reference to a specific product or ingredient and that this is allowed according to federal regulations.

In addition, Hain said that since the California Department of Public Health has decided not to pursue an investigation or legal action against the company, that the state agency’s decision should preempt the class action lawsuit.

However, Judge Beeler denied Hain’s motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit in February 2014 saying that the California Department of Public Health’s decision is no reason that this deceptive marketing class action lawsuit can’t continue.

“The court finds that common issues of fact and law predominate and that the class device is the superior method of handling this dispute,” Judge Beeler wrote in Friday’s ruling.

The plaintiffs are represented by Mark N. Todzo and others of Lexington Law Group LLP.

Hain Celestial is represented by William L. Stern and others of Morrison & Foerster LLP.

The Jason and Avalon Organics Class Action Lawsuit is Brown et al. v. Hain Celestial Group Inc., Case No. 3:11-cv-03082, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: A website for the Hain Celestial class action lawsuit has been established, and a trial date has been set for Aug. 6, 2015. Click here or visit www.HainOrganicCosmeticsLawsuit.com for more information.

UPDATE 2: A settlement has been reached in the JASON/Avalon Organics class action lawsuit, according to court documents filed on Sept. 22, 2015.

UPDATE 3: Claim filing instructions for the JASON/Avalon Organics settlement are now available!

UPDATE 4: On Oct. 15, 2016, Top Class Actions viewers who submitted timely and valid claims for the Hain Celestial JASON, Avalon Organics class action settlement started receiving checks worth as much as $93! Congratulations to all our readers who filed a claim and got PAID!