A class action was certified in federal court in California against Procter & Gamble on behalf of customers who allege that the company’s “flushable” wet wipes weren’t actually flushable.
Procter & Gamble had argued that all class members may not have had the same understanding of the term. Judge Seeborg rejected this argument.
“While Pettit may need to bolster her showing if she hopes to prevail at trial, for purposes of the present motion she has adequately established that common proof can answer on a classwide basis the critical central question as to whether P&G’s labeling of Freshmates as ‘flushable’ gives rise to a probability that a significant portion of the relevant consumers acting reasonably could be misled,” Judge Seeborg said.
The class is comprised of anyone who bought the wet wipes for their own use between April 6, 2011 and August 3, 2017 in California. It was not immediately clear how large the class could be, but Judge Seeborg said millions of the wet wipes had been sold in California during the class period.
The case is Pettit v. Procter & Gamble Co., case number 3:15-cv-02150, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
