Lysol Laundry Sanitizer Offers No More Than Normal Laundering Class Action

Reckitt Benckiser, LLC owns the Lysol brand, which offers a Laundry Sanitizer that it advertises as “Kill[ing] 99% of Bacteria.” But the complaint for this class action alleges that this claim is misleading, because, it says, normal laundry practices already take care of any bacteria on clothing.

Two classes have been proposed for this action:

• The New York Class is all persons in New York who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.
• The Consumer Fraud Multi-State Class is all persons in New Mexico, West Virginia, Iowa, Arkansas, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Idaho, and Alaska who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.

Page 1 of the complaint shows an image of the container for the Lysol Laundry Sanitizer, showing the claim “Kills 99% of Bacteria” on its front label.

The first objection raised by this complaint is that of need, that is, that the product pretends to answer a need that does not exist, because “no credible and accepted studies on domestic laundry practices indicate that the spread of bacteria and/or infection from laundry is a potential risk of bacteria transmission.”

Another consideration is that Americans normally use hot water for laundering clothing, at temperatures of around 140 degrees Fahrenheit. “At hot and warm temperatures,” the complaint alleges, “the washing process inactivate microorganisms, accelerates the activation of detergents and facilitates the mechanical removal of soil and other particulates.”

Nothing on the Lysol container, the complaint says, tells consumers that standard laundry practices already get rid of 99.9% of bacteria in clothing.

But the complaint admits that the product gives an indirect hint of this on the back, which contains the statements, “Works in Cold Water” and “When you wash your clothes in cold water, bacteria can survive.” But because this is only placed on the back of the product, the complaint says, “consumers who only see the front label will expect the Product can provide a meaningful benefit to them…”

“Even the ‘cold water’ disclaimers are misleading,” the complaint contends, “because washing in cold water with detergent, followed by a normal drying cycle, reduces and minimizes any risk of bacteria survival to a negligible level.” Therefore, the complaint alleges, the value of the product is less than the value as represented by the company.

The complaint says the Laundry Sanitizer products are sold at premium price, “no less than $4.99 for 90 oz, a higher price than they would otherwise be sold for, absent the misleading representations and omissions.”

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Deceptive Advertising, Deceptive Labels, Item Does Not Do What It Is Advertised to Do