Peterson v. Glad Products Co.

The federal district court for the Northern District of California denied a motion to dismiss a putative class action lawsuit alleging that the labeling of the defendants’ trash bags was a “scheme to defraud environmentally conscious consumers.” The court found that the plaintiff established standing to seek injunctive relief.

A class action lawsuit filed in the federal district court for the Northern District of California alleged that Glad Products Company and Clorox Company had a “scheme to defraud environmentally conscious consumers” by selling trash bags with “Recycling” and “Designed for Municipal Use” labels. The complaint asserted that the defendants’ actions violated California’s Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law, and Consumers Legal Remedies Act. The complaint also asserted claims for breach of warranty, fraudulent inducement—intentional misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment. The complaint alleged that plastic materials accounted “for a large portion of non-biodegradable waste that negatively impacts the environment,” and that 16% of U.S. plastic waste was incinerated in 2018, releasing “substantial amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere” and contributing to climate change and other environmental problems. The complaint alleged that false product names and labels tricked consumers into “unknowingly contributing to making pollution worse—and paying Glad a premium to do so.”