ST. LOUIS (Legal Newsline) - Nike is hoping a federal judge will throw out a class action lawsuit against it, just like a colleague did with a similar case.
The apparel giant filed a motion to dismiss July 6 in a lawsuit that alleges its "Sustainability" products are not as environmentally friendly as the company would have shoppers believe.
Another case filed in St. Louis federal court was recently tossed by Judge Rodney Sippel, who on May 12 granted the motion to dismiss of H&M Hennes & Mauritz. The plaintiff in that case sued over H&M's "conscious choice" collection.
"(The plaintiff) does not contend that he was unable to determine the composition of materials used to make the sweater he purchased, nor does he allege that the actual composition differs from the representation made by H&M," Sippel wrote.
"As all consumers have the ability to determine the composition of each garment offered for sale by H&M, any claim based on the alleged omission of the composition of conscious choice garments must fail."
Nike feels Judge Matthew Schelp should reach the same conclusion, claiming plaintiff Maria Guadalupe Ellis fails the "reasonable consumer" standard.
"Plaintiff has not plausibly alleged that she acted as a reasonable consumer by relying only on substantively and contextually gerrymandered excerpts of Nike’s environmental representations," Nike wrote in its motion.
"And even if Plaintiff reviewed only excerpts of Nike’s representations in isolation, which is implausible, Missouri law would not excuse her failure to read the complete representations 'where [she] ha[d] the opportunity to read something but cho[]se not to do so.'"
At issue are Nike's claims the "Sustainability" line is "made with recycled fibers" which "reduces waste and our carbon footprint" and is part of a "Move To Zero carbon and zero waste."
The suit claims violation of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.
"Despite claiming that the Nike 'Sustainability' Collection Products are 'made with recycled fibers,' they are predominantly made with virgin synthetic materials," the lawsuit says. "In fact, of the 2,452 Nike 'Sustainability' Collection Products identified in Exhibit A attached hereto, only 239 Products are actually made with any recycled materials.
"Thus, more than 90% of the Nike 'Sustainability' Collection Products are not 'made with recycled fibers' which 'reduces waste and our carbon footprint.'"
St. Louis firms Orlowsky Law and Goffstein Law represent the plaintiff.