Flushable Wipes Class Action Filed Against Costco, Target, Walmart

Several companies including Costco Wholesale Corporation, Target Corporation and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have been hit with a class action lawsuit accusing them of deceptively selling “flushable wipes” that are not actually safe to flush.

“Flushable Wipes do not break up into small pieces or disintegrate during or soon after flushing, and are thus not flushable under any definition of the term – even under Defendants’ own industry guidelines that were specifically designed for their products to pass,” the flushable wipes class action lawsuit says.

The other defendants named in the flushable wipes class action lawsuit include CVS Health Corporation, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, The Procter & Gamble Company and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.

A homeowners’ association that runs a townhouse community in Suffolk County, N.Y. called The Preserve at Connetquot filed the flushable wipes class action lawsuit on Dec. 4. The plaintiff reportedly owns and/or operates an on-site sewage treatment plant, and claims that it has incurred expenses in connection with repairs, maintenance and/or damage to its sewage treatment plant due to clogs allegedly caused by flushable wipes failing to break down.

The flushable wipes are allegedly designed, manufactured, marketed and sold as being safe to flush. Although many municipalities and wastewater districts encourage the public to flush only human waste and toilet paper, the flushable wipes class action lawsuit alleges that many consumers are unaware of the warnings or continue to believe that flushable wipes are safe to flush down the toilet.

According to the flushable wipes class action lawsuit, residents of the townhouse community use the flushable wipes as they are advertised and flush them down the toilet where they ultimately end up in sewer systems.

When the flushable wipes are flushed down a toilet, they may cause clogging or other disruption of sewage or wastewater treatment plants, pump stations, lift stations, and/or sewer lines. This damage occurs even when consumers use the flushable wipes as directed by the defendants, the flushable wipes class action lawsuit alleges.

The plaintiffs claim that wastewater industry officials describe the impact of flushable wipes on wastewater systems as “wreaking havoc” and “a huge problem – an absolutely horrible problem.”

Flushable wipes have allegedly caused cities like New York to spend more than $18 million in a five-year period to deal with flushable wipe related equipment issues.

The plaintiff seeks to represent itself and a proposed nationwide Class and a New York subclass of sewage treatment plant operators who have been affected by flushable wipes since Dec. 4, 2011.

The flushable wipes class action lawsuit asserts claims for strict products liability – defective design; strict products liability – failure to warn; nuisance; trespass; negligence; negligent misrepresentation; breach of express warranty; breach of the implied warranty of merchantability; and New York state laws.

The plaintiff is represented by Samuel H. Rudman, Mark S. Reich and Vincent M. Serra of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP.

The Costco, Target, Walmart Flushable Wipes Class Action Lawsuit is The Preserve at Connetquot Homeowners Association Inc. v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, et al., Case No. 2:17-cv-07050, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.