LOS ANGELES – Daniel Berman filed a class action complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Central District Court of California on April 5 demanding a jury trial against Batten Industries Inc., Batten Industries (US) Inc. and Batten Services Inc. over allegations the companies falsely advertised their bathroom-cleaning products as all-natural.
In the complaint, Berman alleges that the defendants know their products are not all-natural, but "nonetheless advertise and market them in a manner intended to mislead and deceive consumers."
He alleges this causes the Batten defendants to unjustly profit at the expense of their customers who seek an all-natural product. The product line the Batten defendants claim is all-natural is their Nellie's line, the complaint states. This product line includes laundry soap, dish detergent, an all-purpose cleaner, and baby laundry detergent.
Berman alleged found the defendants' Nellie's All-Natural Laundry Soda product while shopping on Target.com in 2017. Once he purchased the product, he alleges he used it to wash a load of clothes and inspected the label. There, Berman realized the ingredients in the package were not all-natural and he had paid a premium price for a dishonestly marketed product, his complaint states.
Berman alleges that three of the laundry soda's five ingredients are synthetic: alcohol ethoxylate, sodiuym metasilicate and sodium carbonate.
One ingredient in particular that Nellie's products contains is cocamidopropyl betaine (“CAPB”), which is produced by coconut oil fatty acids with 3,3- dimethylaminopropylamine, which forms cocamidopropy dimethlamine, the suit states.
Other synthetic ingredients the plaintiff alleges are used in the defendants' Nellie's line include alkyl polyglycoside, cocoamidopropyl amine oxide, cocoamidopropyl betaine laureth-7, lauryl alcohol ethoxylate 7 mole, the plaintiff alleges.
Berman contends the Batten defendants false advertising violates the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, the Unfair Competition Law, California Business and Professions Code and the False Advertising Law.
Berman is seeking injunctive relief, actual damages, restitution, statutory damages, attorneys’ fees, costs and all other relief available to the class.