Macy’s Class Action Says Bedding Thread Count is Deceptive

Macy’s is accused of deceiving customers by selling bedding and linen products with a lower thread count than what was labeled on the package.

Plaintiffs Sara Hawes and Amy Hill allege in the Macy’s class action lawsuit that consumers are deceived into believing that Macy’s bedding and linen products “had higher thread counts than they actually have and, as such, were of better quality, softer, and more comfortable for sleeping than products with lesser thread counts.”

Hawes and Hill are holding Macy’s responsible along with AQ Textiles LLC, Creative Textiles Mills PVT. LTD., and other corporations that manufacture the bedding and linens sold by Macy’s.

Macy’s sells bedding and linen products under the following brand names:

• AQ Textiles
• Bar III
• Betsey Johnson
• Bluebellgray
• Brookstone
• Calvin Klein
• Carter’s
• Charter Club
• Donna Karan
• Echo
• Elite Home
• Fairfield Square Collection
• Hotel Collection
• Hugo Boss
• Jay Franco
• Jessica Sanders
• JLA Home
• Joy Mangano
• Lacoste Home
• Martex
• Martha Stewart Collection
• Nautica
• NoJo
• Pendleton
• Ralph Lauren
• Shavel
• Sunham
• Tommy Bahama Home
• Tommy Hilfiger
• Trina Turk
• Waterford
• Westpoint
• Westport

According to the Macy’s bedding class action lawsuit, consumers consider thread count when purchasing bedding and linens, which they correlate with quality and price. If the thread count is higher, they are willing to pay more money.

“Members of the bedding and linen products industry, including the Defendants, consistently communicate to consumers that higher thread count sheets are of better quality, softer, and more comfortable for sleeping. As a result, consumers purchasing bedding and linen products use thread count as a primary indicator of the quality of the sheets offered for sale, and pay higher prices for higher thread counts,” the Macy’s thread count class action lawsuit states.

The plaintiffs’ complaint cites an ABC News article, “Are Shoppers Short-Sheeted by Thread Count?” which reported that “A single-ply 300-count can run about $55 a set, while the 600 thread-count sheets that [tested as] only a 300-count is $180 a set.”

“As part of a scheme to make their bedding and linen products more attractive, boost sales, and increase profits, Defendants knowingly departed from known, well-established, and longstanding industry standards governing the calculation and advertisement of thread counts by inflating the thread counts on the labels of the products they manufactured, marketed, distributed, and/or sold,” the Macy’s bedding class action lawsuit asserts.

The industry standard for setting the fabric count of woven fabric is to 1) count the threads in both the vertical and horizontal direction, and 2) each thread is counted as one; regardless if the thread is single- ply, double-ply or multi-ply thread.

Defendants allegedly deviated from the industry standard by counting double-ply and multi-ply as individual threads.

This is not the first time that India-based textile manufacturer Creative Textiles and North Carolina- based importer AQ Textiles have been sued over allegedly inflating the thread count of bedding sold at major retail stores. Both companies were named in class action lawsuits filed earlier this year, which included retailers TJ Maxx, Ross and Macy’s.

Plaintiffs Hawes and Hill are seeking to represent a California Class, a Missouri Class, and a nationwide Class of persons who purchased bedding and linen from Macy’s that was manufactured or supplied by AQ Textiles and/or Creative Textiles and that was packaged or advertised with a representation regarding thread count.

Plaintiffs ask the court to stop the defendants from manufacturing, advertising and selling bedding and linens with inflated thread counts. They also ask to be awarded disgorgement of profits, compensatory damages, restitution, exemplary damages, attorney fees and litigation costs.

Attorneys for plaintiffs are Jack Landskroner and Drew Legando of Landskroner Grieco Merriman LLC; Bruce Steckler, Stuart Cochran and Kirstine Rogers of Steckler Gresham Cochran; Erica Mirabella of Mirabella Law LLC; Charles LaDuca, David Black and Matthew Prewitt of Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca LLP; Michael McShane and Ling Y. Kuang of Audet & Partners LLP; and Charles Schaffer of Levin Sedran & Berman.

The Macy’s Deceptive Thread Count Class Action Lawsuit is Sara Hawes and Amy Hill v. Macy’s Inc., et al., Case No. 1:17-cv-00754-TSB, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.