Hoover Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over ‘Unfair’ Terms & Conditions

TTI Floor Care North America Inc. d/b/a Hoover has been hit with a class action lawsuit that alleges the Terms & Conditions listed on its website contain “unfair, one-sided provisions” that violate New Jersey law.

“Specifically, and as detailed more fully below, Defendant’s website contains a consumer contract (entitled ‘Terms & Conditions’) that purports to impose illegal exculpatory and other such provisions upon all purchasers of goods or services from that website and purports to nullify certain legal duties and responsibilities Hoover owes its consumers,” plaintiff Darla Braden argues in the Hoover class action lawsuit.

According to the Hoover class action lawsuit, Braden purchased a Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe Carpet Cleaner through www.hoover.com in December 2015. Her rights as they relate to the website and products available on the website were purportedly governed by the Terms & Conditions listed on the website.

Braden alleges that Hoover attempts to “impose illegal conditions” on customers who use the website and/or purchase products from www.hoover.com. According to the Hoover class action lawsuit, the website’s Terms & Conditions protect Hoover from liability for tortious acts and for manufacturing or selling dangerous products. The Terms & Conditions also allegedly prohibit customers from seeking redress for injuries that were caused by unsafe products. In addition, the Terms & Conditions allegedly absolve Hoover of any liability arising from third-party criminal acts.

Braden asserts that these provisions violate New Jersey law, including the state’s Truth-in-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act (TCCWNA).

“New Jersey consumer protection laws, including the TCCWNA, are designed to protect consumers from the type of unconscionable and illegal provisions contained in Defendant’s ‘Terms & Conditions,’” Braden alleges in the Hoover class action lawsuit.

“Plaintiff therefore brings the statutory claim alleged herein to halt Defendant’s use of the illegal language in its ‘Disclaimer of Liability’ provision included in the ‘Terms & Conditions’ on Defendant’s website, and to impose those remedies provided for in the TCCWNA,” the Hoover class action lawsuit says.

Braden filed the Hoover class action lawsuit on behalf of herself and all persons in the state of New Jersey who purchased products from www.hoover.com for personal use. She seeks a judgment awarding herself and Class Members no less than $100 for each violation of the TCCWNA. She also seeks an order requiring Hoover to remove the allegedly illegal language from its website.

She has demanded a trial by jury.

Braden is represented by Gerald H. Clark, Mark W. Morris and Lazaro Berenguer of Clark Law Firm PC and by Scott J. Ferrell and Victoria Knowles of Newport Trial Group.

The Hoover Terms & Conditions Class Action Lawsuit is Darla Braden v. TTI Floor North America Inc. d/b/a Hoover, Case No. 3:16-cv-00742 in the U.S. District Court for New Jersey.