Perez v. Bath & Body Works, LLC

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedMay 15, 2023
Docket5:21-cv-05606
StatusUnknown

This text of Perez v. Bath & Body Works, LLC (Perez v. Bath & Body Works, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Perez v. Bath & Body Works, LLC, (N.D. Cal. 2023).

Opinion

1 2 3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 4 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 5 SAN JOSE DIVISION 6 7 CARMEN PEREZ, et al., Case No. 21-cv-05606-BLF

8 Plaintiffs, ORDER DENYING IN PART AND 9 v. GRANTING IN PART WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND MOTION TO 10 BATH & BODY WORKS, LLC, et al., DISMISS SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT 11 Defendants. [Re: ECF No. 102] 12

13 In this case, Plaintiff Carmen Perez1 challenges representations made on a series of 14 products sold by Defendants Bath & Body Works, LLC and Bath & Body Works, Inc. (“BBW”). 15 Perez alleges that BBW falsely claims that hyaluronic acid, an ingredient in those products, 16 “attracts and retains up to 1,000x its weight in water to make skin look smoother and more 17 supple.” She brings three common law claims and three California consumer protection claims 18 and seeks to represent a California class of consumers who purchased the products after July 21, 19 2017. 20 Now before the Court is BBW’s motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(1). ECF No. 102 21 (“MTD”); see also ECF No. 104 (“Reply”). Perez opposes the motion. ECF No. 103 (“Opp.”). 22 The Court held a hearing on the motion on May 3, 2023. See ECF No. 109. For the following 23 reasons, the Court DENIES IN PART and GRANTS IN PART WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND 24 the motion to dismiss. 25 26 27 1 The Court separately granted Defendants’ motion to compel arbitration as to claims brought by I. BACKGROUND 1 As alleged in the Second Amended Complaint, Defendants market products including skin 2 creams, lotions, scrubs, shampoos, conditioners, scents, and body wash to consumers who visit 3 BBW’s stores or website. ECF No. 95 (“SAC”) ¶ 38. Among those products is a line called 4 “WATER” / “HYDRATING”, which includes several products that use hyaluronic acid: 5 • BBW Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Body Cream (in varying scents); 6 • BBW Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Hand Cream (in varying scents); 7 • BBW Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Body Wash; 8 • BBW Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Body Gel Lotion; and 9 • BBW Hyaluronic Acid Mineral Body Polish (in varying scents). 10 Id. ¶ 41 (the “Products”). 11 Perez alleges that BBW makes false claims on the Products “to trick consumers into 12 believing that the [Products] contain unique moisturizing properties.” SAC ¶ 52. Perez provides 13 the example of the Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Body Cream. Id. ¶¶ 53–55. The back of the tube 14 of that product allegedly contains the following representation: “attracts and retains up to 1,000x 15 its weight in water to make skin look smoother and more supple” (“1,000x claim”). Id. ¶ 54. 16 Perez alleges that in-store personnel were instructed to make these claims, that in-store, point-of- 17 sale advertising included these claims, and that BBW’s website contains similar representations. 18 Id. ¶¶ 56–58. Perez also alleges that BBW “makes materially identical claims for all of its 19 Hyaluronic Acid Products.” Id. ¶ 60. Perez alleges that the product labels for the Body Gel, Body 20 Wash, and Hand Cream all include the 1,000x claim. Id. ¶¶ 61-63. She alleges that the 1,000x 21 claim is made on the website and point-of-sale advertising for the Body Polish. Id. ¶ 64. 22 Perez alleges that the 1,000x claim is false. SAC ¶¶ 70-71. The hyaluronic acid in the 23 product is, for example, allegedly not capable of absorbing 1,000 times its weight in water. Id. 24 ¶¶ 71-81. Perez alleges that BBW knows these representations are false but made them anyway to 25 take advantage of a growing market for beauty and skincare. Id. ¶¶ 82–91. 26 In approximately February or March 2019, Plaintiff Carmen Perez visited a BBW store in 27 Milpitas, California and purchased the Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Body Cream. SAC ¶ 93. 1 Based on the representations made on the product and repeated by a store employee, Perez 2 believed the product was capable of moisturizing and hydrating her skin. Id. ¶¶ 93-94. Perez did 3 not observe any improvement on her skin after use. Id. ¶ 95. 4 This lawsuit was field on July 21, 2021, see ECF No. 1, and Perez filed the First Amended 5 Complaint on January 10, 2022, see ECF No. 47. The Court issued an Order granting in part and 6 denying in part a motion to dismiss the FAC. See Perez v. Bath & Body Works, LLC, No. 21-cv- 7 05606-BLF, 2022 WL 2756670 (N.D. Cal. July 14, 2022). On October 28, 2022, Plaintiff filed 8 the operative Second Amended Complaint. See SAC. She asserts claims for violation of the 9 Consumer Legal Remedies Act (“CLRA”), Cal. Civ. Code § 1750 et seq., SAC ¶¶ 117-27; 10 violation of the False Advertising Law (“FAL”), Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17500 et seq., SAC 11 ¶¶ 128-39; fraud, deceit, and/or misrepresentation, SAC ¶¶ 140-50; negligent misrepresentation, 12 SAC ¶¶ 151-58; violation of the Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 et seq., 13 SAC ¶¶ 159-69; and a quasi-contract claim for restitution, SAC ¶¶ 170-74. Perez seeks to 14 represent a class of all persons who purchased any of the Products from BBW in California from 15 July 21, 2017 to the present. Id. ¶¶ 105-16. 16 II. LEGAL STANDARD 17 A party may challenge the Court’s subject matter jurisdiction by bringing a motion to 18 dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). “[T]he ‘irreducible constitutional 19 minimum’ of standing consists of three elements.” Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 578 U.S. 330, 338, 136 20 S. Ct. 1540, 1547 (2016) (quoting Lujan v. Defs. of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560 (1992)). “The 21 plaintiff must have (1) suffered an injury in fact, (2) that is fairly traceable to the challenged 22 conduct of the defendant, and (3) that is likely to be redressed by a favorable judicial decision.” 23 Id. (citing Lujan, 504 U.S. at 560-61). “A plaintiff bears the burden of demonstrating that her 24 injury-in-fact is ‘concrete, particularized, and actual or imminent; fairly traceable to the challenged 25 action; and redressable by a favorable ruling.’” Davidson v. Kimberly-Clark Corporation, 889 26 F.3d 956 (9th Cir. 2018) (quoting Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms, 561 U.S. 139, 149 27 (2010)); see also Spokeo, 578 U.S. at 338 (“The plaintiff, as the party invoking federal 1 U.S. 215, 231 (1990))). 2 III. ANALYSIS 3 A. Injunctive Relief 4 1. Standing 5 BBW argues that Perez lacks standing to pursue injunctive relief because she cannot 6 establish injury. MTD at 5-10. BBW also argues that Perez lacks standing to pursue injunctive 7 relief because her requested injunction is not traceable to her alleged injuries and because it is 8 beyond the Court’s ability to redress. Id. at 10-12. 9 BBW first argues that Plaintiff cannot establish an injury in fact. MTD at 5-10. 10 Defendants argue that Plaintiff cannot allege a desire to purchase the product as advertised in the 11 future, which is required under case law. Id. at 7-8. BBW asserts that Plaintiff could never allege 12 that she wanted to purchase the product as advertised because she also alleges it is scientifcally 13 impossible for hyaluronic acid to retain 1,000x its weight in water. Id. at 8. Finally, BBW also 14 asserts that because Plaintiff alleges that the 1,000x claim is false, there is no danger that she be 15 misled in the future. Id. at 9.

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Bluebook (online)
Perez v. Bath & Body Works, LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/perez-v-bath-body-works-llc-cand-2023.