Walmart ‘Bamboo’ Products Are Really Rayon, Suit Says
Walmart ‘Bamboo’ Products Are Really Rayon, Suit Says
Writen By: Collin Krabbe
Re-posted by Law360 (March 31, 2023, 5:26 PM EDT) — Walmart deceptively claims certain products are bamboo when they are really another processed fiber, despite a warning from the Federal Trade Commission, according to a proposed class action in Massachusetts federal court.
Grace Toledo of Boston said in her suit on Thursday that Walmart repeatedly claimed products it markets and sells are made from bamboo despite really being rayon, a type of fiber made from purified plant cellulose that is dissolved in one or more chemicals like sodium hydroxide.
The chemical solution is then put through “spinnerets” and into an acidic bath, where it solidifies, according to Toledo. And under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act, advertising for textile products that implies or references fiber content must say the “generic fiber names” given by the FTC and not misrepresent fiber content, according to Toledo’s lawsuit.
In fact, Toledo says, the FTC “took action” against Walmart last April for “substantially identical” allegations, and on the same day a complaint was filed, Walmart entered into a stipulated order and judgment in which it paid $3 million “as part of a civil penalty.”
In 2010, the FTC sent Walmart a warning letter informing the retailer that “certain of its acts or practices in connection with the advertising and labeling of textile fiber products” may violate the Textile Act and federal rules and constitute unfair or deceptive acts or practices per the FTC Act,according to Toledo.
In particular, the letter informed Walmart that the word “bamboo” can be used in advertising or labeling only textile products made from fibers “taken directly from the bamboo plant” that have not undergone the chemical process for making rayon, according to Toledo.
“Since at least 2015, despite the FTC’s public announcements and the warning letter, defendant has sold rayon textile fiber products marketed and advertised as ‘bamboo,'” her lawsuit said.
“It is a violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act, the Textile Act, and the Textile Rules to advertise textile fiber products in a way that makes disclosures or implications of fiber content while failing to set forth the required information as to fiber content as specified by [the Textile Act] and in the manner and form prescribed by the Textile Rules,” according to Toledo.
Toledo proposes a class for consumers in the U.S. who bought Walmart’s purported rayon textile products marketed as being made with bamboo, plus a subclass for those who did so in Massachusetts.
She is pursuing damages and alleges violations of the Massachusetts Unfair and Deceptive Business Practices Act and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, with additional claims for unjust enrichment, fraud, fraudulent omission and breach of express warranty.
“We are committed to being the most trusted retailer and take these claims seriously,” Walmart spokesperson Marci Burks told Law360 in an email Friday. “We have comprehensive product description programs that we continually review, and we expect our suppliers to provide products that comply with all laws, including those around labeling. We are reviewing the complaint and will respond in court as appropriate.”
Counsel for Toledo did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Toledo is represented by James J. Reardon Jr. of Reardon Scanlon LLP and Julian C. Diamond and Matthew A. Girardi of Bursor & Fisher PA.
Counsel information for Walmart was not immediately available.
The case is Toledo v. Walmart Inc., case number 1:23-cv-10694, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
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