Lawsuit: Bell Children’s Bicycle Seats Not Truly ‘Made in USA’

A woman from New Jersey has filed a consumer class action lawsuit claiming certain Bell children’s bicycle seats are mislabeled as being Made in USA.

Plaintiff Kristen Miller-Monteleone says that defendant Bell Sports Inc. has been improperly advertising some of its children’s bicycle seats as being Made in USA when in fact they contain a significant number of Asian-made components.

She seeks to represent a plaintiff Class of nationwide consumers who purchased these bike seats.

According to this Bell class action lawsuit, the Bell children’s bicycle seats at issue are made with two major components that were manufactured abroad.

Miller-Monteleone alleges the seats’ “New Plush Seat Cushion” was made in China, and she says the Blackburn Expedition Rack is made in Taiwan. Both these components are part of Bell children’s bicycle seats sold under the CoPilot brand, she claims.

Applicable law requires products sold with a Made in USA designation to contain no more than a “de minimis” number of foreign-made components, Miller-Monteleone argues.

She says the Bell children’s bicycle seats that contain the New Plush Seat Cushion and the Blackburn Expedition Rack exceed this “de minimis” limit and therefore cannot truthfully be labeled as U.S.-made products.

Mislabeling Bell Children’s Bicycle Seats Cheats Consumers

Miller-Monteleone argues that the stated country of origin of a particular product is something consumers generally take into account when deciding which product to purchase. She says many American consumers prefer to purchase domestically made goods in support of American companies and American jobs.

They also believe products that are Made in USA are of higher quality than products made elsewhere, Miller-Monteleone says. She believes that by marking Bell children’s bicycle seats as Made in USA, defendant Bell was able to charge consumers a premium they wouldn’t have paid otherwise.

In fact, Miller-Monteleone claims, the foreign-made components in Bell children’s bicycle seats are of lower quality and are not worth the price consumers have been paying for them.

Miller-Monteleone alleges components made in foreign countries aren’t made to the same high standards as U.S.-made components, and their manufacturers aren’t held to the same legal standards of environmental, safety and labor regulation.

Miller-Monteleone says she bought her own CoPilot Limo children’s bicycle seat in July 2008 from her local bike shop in Montclair, N.J.

Despite containing a significant number of components that were manufactured abroad, Miller-Monteleone claims, her CoPilot seat was labeled as having been domestically made, and the packaging featured a prominent image of an American flag.

Miller-Monteleone says she relied on that representation when she chose to buy that particular bike seat, and she claims many other consumers made the same choice. She reports she “was offended and felt cheated” after finding out the product she had bought wasn’t what she had been led to expect.

Her Bell class action lawsuit raises claims based on fraud, misrepresentation, and violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.

She seeks an award of damages according to what she can prove at trial and restitution of all money Bell received due to the allegedly deceptive conduct. She also seeks awards of punitive damages, court costs and attorneys’ fees.

The Bell’s Children Bicycle Seats Class Action Lawsuit is Kristin Miller-Monteleone v. Bell Sports Inc., Case No. ESX-L-004546 in the Superior Court of New Jersey Law Division, Essex County.