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An Ohio federal court judge has tossed claims in a putative class action lawsuit filed against Procter & Gamble alleging Old Spice deodorant causes serious rashes and burns.
Lead plaintiff Rodney Colley filed the Old Spice class action lawsuit in March, stating that he and thousands of consumers experienced chemical burns, skin peeling, and other skin irritations while using Old Spice deodorant products.
The Old Spice deodorant lawsuit further alleged Procter & Gamble actively tried to cover up the damage they knew their products were doing in favor of collecting large profits.
In support of this claim, Colley points to many blog posts and YouTube videos that can be found online featuring the irritation, burning and rashes that were commonly experienced by consumers.
Rather than blaming the product, Procter & Gamble argued the problems consumers have been experiencing could be caused by other factors, including sensitivity to alcohol, which is used in most deodorant products, or any one of the fragrances used in the products.
But Colley alleged enough people have been affected all across the country to warrant calling the hygiene products defective and certifying a nationwide Class of consumers.
However, U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Black ruled Tuesday that plaintiffs failed to meet Class requirement standards and that the alleged Old Spice deodorant injuries are too individualized to constitute a Class.
“Here, plaintiffs do not contend that Old Spice deodorant products fail to provide deodorant benefits to any purchaser,” the judge said. “Instead, plaintiffs allege personal injury, which is not a classwide issue.”
The plaintiffs had asked the Court to certify a nationwide Class and 44 state subclasses of every person who purchased one of the 13 listed Old Spice deodorant products since 2012, asserting nationwide claims for breach of express warranty, unjust enrichment, and product liability among other claims.
Procter & Gamble countered, telling the court that there are too many issues to resolve that are specific to each individual Class Member and legal standards across 50 states.
Judge Black sided with P&G, noting that “the liability of individual class members will turn on the litany of specific factual inquiries, including whether and how class members were physically injured, how putative class members applied the product, the frequency of use, whether they use other products, individual medical issues and sensitivities, conditions such as previously broken or irritated skin, armpit shaving habits and other factors unique to each individual.”
The judge also ruled in favor of P&G’s arguments that plaintiffs’ Class claims should be stricken because they are overbroad since it includes a significant number of consumers who have not suffered any injury or harm when using Old Spice products.
“Plaintiffs’ proposed classes and subclasses are overbroad because they would include millions of consumers who suffered no injury and thus have no standing to bring claims or recover on them. Plaintiffs do not allege that all of these consumers suffered irritation or other injury from using Old Spice, nor do they allege that Old Spice failed to work properly for all members of the proposed classes,” Judge Black stated.
Still, Judge Black granted the plaintiffs leave to amend the class allegations and disputed claims within three weeks.
The plaintiffs are represented by Thomas J. Connick and Edward A. Proctor of Connick Law LLC.
The Old Spice Burning Deodorant Class Action Lawsuit is Rodney Colley v. Proctor & Gamble Co., et al., Case No. 1:16-cv-00918, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
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27 thoughts onP&G Escapes Old Spice Burning Deodorant Class Action Lawsuit
I used Old Spice Lavender body wash twice and had to go to the hospital twice because my injuries were so bad. I saved the bottles. I would love a laboratory to find out what was inside these bottles.
The fiji body wash doesn’t bother me. I love using it and use to love the fiji deodorant. Been using old spice for years. Until recently the fiji one started burning my arm pits. Now they are bright red and burns like a son of a bitch after I don’t know maybe 20 minutes of putting it on. I even tried washing it off and it still burns
I had a severe rash under my arms from the original old spice. It scabbed and I couldn’t raise my hands over my shoulders without bleeding. The pain was immense.
I just started using their gel deodorant last week. I have SEVERE burns under my arms. They are now scabbed and I can not raise my arms over my head for fear of them breaking open. This is ridiculous.
My son had horrible burns under his arms from using the swagger deoderant, I thought maybe it was because he’d recently went thru bad trama and had surgery but then my other son bought figi and it did the same thing to him , it’s ridiculous these products can be sold and are causing so much pain and discomfort
I was using the old spice Fiji gel deodorant after I shaved one day and it burned me so bad that it hurt to have my arms down and touching other skin. I thought maybe it’d go away but the next day I had bumps all over my armpit and a burn. I tried using it one last time on a day I didn’t shave and still got the same results. It took a week for the pain of the bumps to go away.
Rushing to get packed for a trip to WDW I forgot to get deodorant upon leaving, so I used my husband’s Old Spice until I could get to the store. By the time we arrived in Orlando, my armpits were broken out with a rash. Instead of getting better, the rash became open, running sores. Needless to say I was miserable the entire 7 day trip. It took several days after returning for my underarms to heal. My underarms were scarred from the sores.
I’ve had a recent experience with this rash under my left arm
I did to used a lot of the old spice products and it was fine till about 2 years ago and now I cant use any of p&g products becouse of the chemical burns and tissue damage I receive by using old spice deodorant it dont matter what kind it is my skin rips and burns and after that’s done I’m left with dark scars this product is not safe to use. I would like info on how to join this class action lawsuit please and thank you.
My son used this and received a horrible rash/burn. He went to the doctor and received treatment. I atill have the antibiotic bottle. This was 12/05/2015. I jusr learned of the class action suit
I bought the gift set for my son a couple of years ago and both of them complain of burning under their arms.
I am also concerned. Have been using Old Spice Original for over 20 years. WalMart was out of that scent, when I purchased the Fresh High Endurance twin set. A day after my first application , the skin in my arm pits were completely blackened, as well as my right inner thigh, a spot on my neck and my lower waist area. Initially, there was a burning feeling in my arm pits, but deminished after a few weeks, but the discoloration remains, which is a concern. My physcian thought it was Acanthosis nigricans and said that it was not from deodoran . He actually had not seen this condition before and referred to an associate doctor who without actually seeing my condition, said it was Acanthosis because I am type 2 diabetic. Now, after seeing others who have the exact condition, I have no doubt about from where this originated. Waiting a call back from my doctor to let him know about this malady resulting from a defective product and not diabetes. Would appreciate any professional advice on how to proceed. The fact that there is no longer any pain associated with the spreading discoloration is somewhat alarming.