Draper James Class Action Alleges Free Dress Scheme

A recent class action lawsuit claims that Draper James misled teachers with free dress offers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Draper James, a brand owned by renowned actress Reese Witherspoon, reportedly started a promotional COVID-19 appreciation campaign in which they offered teachers a new dress for free when they signed up with their teacher ID information.

However, the class action lawsuit claims that this offer was misleading and resulted in consumers handing over their sensitive personal information for no reason.

“Defendants engaged in a promotional and advertising campaign and offer, taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic, offering to provide a new dress for teachers who signed up with Draper James and provided their personal contact information – all highly sensitive information that could be exploited by cyber-criminals, or used or sold by defendants (which, it turns out, they did),” the Draper James class action lawsuit argues.

Allegedly, the plaintiffs and other teachers were deceived into believing that they would receive a free dress from Draper James if they filled out a form with their personal information. Unfortunately, after the brand received countless submissions, it was revealed that only 250 dresses would be offered to consumers on a lottery basis.

According to the Draper James free dress class action lawsuit, there was no disclosure about the limitations of the offer. Instead, the offer allegedly only included a parenthetical “offer valid while supplies last” without any specific quantity included.

“In fact, defendants failed to disclose the material fact they only intended to provide goods for 250 people – which with the average retail cost of their lease expensive goods, was an estimated paltry $12,500 in actual cost to defendants, at a time when other individuals of Ms. Witherspoon’s renown were offering millions of dollars to COVID-19 victims,” the Draper James class action lawsuit notes.

The plaintiffs argue that national news shows such as The Today Show and Good Morning America would not have stated “Reese Witherspoon’s clothing brand is giving away free dresses to teachers” or “the Oscar-winning actress wants to show her gratitude during the coronavirus pandemic” if the true details of the deal were known.

The Draper James class action lawsuit claims that the scheme has served to increase the brand’s customer marketing database “in ways that saved them hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars in marketing costs.”

Plaintiffs and other teachers were allegedly deceived into enriching the clothing company by handing over sensitive personal information. If they had been informed of the true nature of the Draper James free dress campaign, they would not have provided their personal information, the plaintiffs argue.

“To placate consumers, defendants have since tried to claim they were now making a ‘donation’ of an unstated amount to charity instead of actually following through with their represented promises,” the Draper James class action lawsuit claims. “This has only made their ploy subject to further outcry and derision.”

In addition to being unfair, the deal allegedly violates the law. The plaintiffs argue that it is against the law to advertise goods or services while intending to never supply reasonably expected demand – especially if the offer does not contain a clear disclosure of limitations.

“Defendants’ claims were false and deceptive when made, as they had no intent to satisfy any reasonable expectation of demand, particularly considering Ms. Witherspoon’s popularity and the active promotion of this offer and the resulting exploitation of this response by bombarding consumers who responded with email offers to buy their goods and services,” the Draper James class action lawsuit concludes.

The plaintiffs seek to represent a Class of Californians who signed up for the Draper James free dress offer which was offered in April 2020 and provided personal information to the company as part of the offer.

The Draper James class action lawsuit was originally filed in state court, although Witherspoon’s company removed the case to federal court in early June based on the size of the proposed Class and the amount in controversy.

In the motion to dismiss, the company notes that the free dress offer was “expressly limited” as “while supplies last.”

Did you try to take advantage of the Draper James free dress teacher promotion? Let us know in the comments section below.

Plaintiffs and the proposed Class are represented by Alan M. Mansfield of Whatley Kallas LLP and E. Kirk Wood Jr. of Wood Law Firm LLC.

The Draper James Free Dress Class Action Lawsuit is Laryssa Galvez, et al. v. Draper James LLC, et al., Case No. 2:20-cv-04976, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

UPDATE: On July 10, 2020, Reese Witherspoon and her brand Draper James argued in court that a class action lawsuit revolving around their free dress offer for teachers should be dismissed.

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