Jessica Alba’s The Honest Co. Settles ‘Natural’ Labeling Class Action

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Jessica Alba’s The Honest Co. Inc. has reportedly agreed to pay $7.35 million to settle four class action lawsuits accusing it of falsely marketing its products as “all natural.”

According to the Honest natural products class action lawsuits, Honest represents that many of its products are “natural,” “all natural,” “naturally derived,” “plant-based,” and/or that they contain “no harsh chemicals, ever!” In addition, the product labels contain imagery to “communicate a false message to consumers” about the products, the settlement documents state.

The plaintiffs allege they relied on representations on the Honest product labels when making the choice to purchase the products. They claim that they paid more for the products than they would have if not for the alleged misrepresentations.

According to the Honest class action settlement documents, Class Members are entitled to a payment or settlement credit of $2.50 per covered product purchased. No proof of purchase is required to claim up to 10 products. There is no maximum number of products a Class Member may claim if the proof of purchase is provided. These payments may be adjusted pro rata depending on the total number of approved claims.

In addition to providing compensation to eligible Class Members, Honest has also agreed to stop using the challenged labeling terms on its products.

Class Members of the proposed Honest natural labeling settlement include U.S. consumers who purchased any of the covered products since Jan. 17, 2012.

One of the Honest natural products class action lawsuits was filed on Feb. 12, 2016 by plaintiffs Brad and Manon Buonasera (Buonasera, et al. v. The Honest Co. Inc.). Plaintiff Shane Michael filed an Honest class action lawsuit on Sept. 7, 2015 (Michael v. The Honest Co. Inc.), Candace Hiddlestone and Julie Hedges filed an Honest natural products lawsuit on Sept. 20, 2016 (Hiddlestone, et al. v. The Honest Co. Inc.), and plaintiff Aviva Kellman sued The Honest Co. on April 27, 2016 (Kellman v. The Honest Co. Inc.).

The parties in all four of the Honest class action lawsuits agreed to jointly participate in a full-day mediation session followed by weeks of continued negotiations. The Honest Co. denies any wrongdoing and asserts it has no liability to plaintiffs or the putative Class Members. However, it has agreed to settle the natural products class action lawsuit to avoid the burden and expense of ongoing litigation.

Last month, The Honest Co. agreed to pay $1.55 million to settle multidistrict litigation challenging its claims that its products were sodium lauryl sulfate free.

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the green “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

The plaintiffs are represented by Nicholas A. Carlin of Phillips Erlewine Given & Carlin LLP, Robert K. Shelquist of Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP, Beth E. Terrell of Terrell Marshall Law Group PLLC, Yvette Golan of The Golan Firm, Kim E. Richman of Richman Law Group and Todd S. Garber of Finkelstein Blankinship Frei-Pearson & Garber LLP.

The Honest Co. Natural Labeling Class Action Lawsuits are consolidated as In re: Honest Marketing Litigation, Case No. 1:16-cv-01125, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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

UPDATE 2: On Feb. 21, 2018, Top Class Actions viewers who filed a valid claim for the Honest Company dish soap, laundry detergent class action settlement are starting to receive their settlement checks in the mail, for amounts as high as $52.42.