Webb v. Carter's Inc.

272 F.R.D. 489, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12597, 2011 WL 343961
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedFebruary 3, 2011
DocketNo. CV 08-7367 GAF (MANx)
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 272 F.R.D. 489 (Webb v. Carter's Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Webb v. Carter's Inc., 272 F.R.D. 489, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12597, 2011 WL 343961 (C.D. Cal. 2011).

Opinion

ORDER RE: PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION

GARY ALLEN FEESS, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs Lindsey Webb, Anastasia Booth, Kina Abrams, Jayme Sanchez, Amy Muir, and Nancy Muir (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) bring this putative nationwide class action lawsuit against defendants Carter’s, Inc. (“Carter’s”); Avery Dennison, Inc. (“Avery”); Pacific Concept Industries (USA), LLC (“PCI USA”); and Pacific Concepts Industries Limited (“PCI Hong Kong”).1 (Docket No. 144, Fourth Amended Complaint (“FAC”).) This suit arises out of an alleged failure to disclose and provide adequate warnings that various infant and children’s tagless clothing that Defendants designed, manufactured, distributed, and sold to the public had failed tests which showed that the tags contained toxic chemicals that could cause adverse skin reactions. (Id. ¶ 1.) Plaintiffs bring claims for unfair and fraudulent business practices in violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”), Cal. Bus. & Prof.Code § 17200 et seq.; for breach of implied warranties; for breach of the Magnuson-Moss Act; for violation of the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act (“CLRA”), Cal. Civ.Code § 1750 et seq.; for misleading and untrue advertising in violation of California’s Fair Advertising Law (“FAL”), Cal. Bus. & Prof.Code § 17500 et seq.; and for fraudulent concealment. (FAC ¶¶ 244-325.)

Presently before the Court is Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification. (Docket No. 172.) For the reasons set forth below, the Court DENIES the motion.

II. FACTS

A. Plaintiffs’Allegations

1. Background Facts

Carter’s makes children’s clothing, which it sells through its own retail stores and through major retailers like Target. (FAC ¶ 3.) Beginning in 2006, Carter’s began using a “tagless” label, which is a heat-transferred, ink-based image that is permanently transferred onto fabric. (Docket No. 246, Amended Declaration of Steven J. Simerlein (“Am. Simerlein Deck”), Ex. 3 [Deposition of James (“Eidson Depo.”)] at 33:3-17, 37:24-38:20.) Carter’s designs its labels and uses other companies to supply them. (Id. at 89:20-25.) It relied on Avery, PCI USA and PCI Hong Kong, and non-party Inter-Trend Global Packaging Co. to provide the 110 million labels it used for its Fall 2007 line. (Id. at 268:8-15.) Of these, Avery produced about 90 percent. (Id.)

Carter’s began production of its Fall 2007 line in December 2006, and the garments became available in stores beginning in May 2007. (Am. Simerlein Deck, Ex. 5 at ESI-121412; FAC, Ex. F at 18.) The tagless labels in the Fall 2007 line were a large, multi-colored, solid block of ink, instead of a smaller, single-color stenciled design of the type previously used.

According to Carter’s, each label vendor uses its own proprietary ink formulation, printing methods, and label backing material.2 (Docket No. 195, Declaration of James Eidson (“Eidson Deck”) ¶ 6.) This means [494]*494that, for the Fall 2007 line, “there are thousands of possible combinations of garment style, production facility, label manufacturer, and manufacturing process.” (Carter’s Opp. at 5.)

2. Claimed Violations

Plaintiffs allege that they purchased infant clothing from Carter’s Fall 2007 line that contained heat-transferred tagless labels made by Avery, PCI USA, and PCI Hong Kong. (FAC ¶ 6.) Plaintiffs claim that the labels contain excessive quantities of chemicals that pose a risk to children’s skin, and that Defendants knew about the chemicals and their risks but did not inform the public. They further allege that these tagless labels contained chemicals that caused their infant children to suffer skin irritations of varying degrees. (Id. ¶¶ 47-49, 52-54, 59-60, 67-68, 76, 79.) For instance, the label caused a sore between the shoulder blades of Webb’s and Sanchez’s children, which made it hard for them to sleep on their backs, the position recommended to avoid Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. (Id. ¶¶ 47-48, 52-53.) Sanchez’s child developed pus-filled sores that would burst and scab over. (Id. ¶ 54.)

a. Testing and Chemicals Present in Labels

Plaintiffs claim that neither Carter’s nor Avery ensured that the Fall 2007 tagless design was safe for use in children’s clothing, and that Carter’s did not ensure that its tagless labels met its own internal standards for acceptable chemical levels.

Plaintiffs also put forth evidence that Carter’s knew about the presence of toxic chemicals before consumers started to complain. In February 2007, Carter’s received a test report from Inter-Trend showing that the labels contained 0.11 percent phthalates, 0.01 percent more than allowable under Carter’s internal standards. (Am. Simerlein Deck, Ex. 21, 23.) A Carter’s representative accepted this test as “a PASS” and notified the vendor that the phthalates test would be required in the future only for parts children could place in their mouths. (Am. Simerlein Deck, Ex. 23.) In addition, Avery provided Carter’s with test results before July 31, 2007, showing that the tagless labels it produced for the Fall 2007 product line contained DEHP. (Am. Simerlein Deck, Ex. 7, at 5.)

Plaintiffs also allege that Avery knew about the ink’s toxicity. In March 2007, Avery received a report from Intertek that the ink in the labels contained 13 percent DEHP, 14 percent PVC, and 2 percent epoxy resin by weight. (Am. Simerlein Deck, Conf. Ex. 1 at 2.) This report, however, noted that, in the quantities present on the labels, “no data ... indicate that the ingredients ... would be expected to cause significant acute or chronic toxicity via dermal contact.” (Id.)

Avery also had a U.S. Department of Labor Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) that indicated that the ink used in the tagless labels could cause “irritation, defatting, or dermatitis.” (Am. Simerlein Deck, Ex. 34 at AD-105-06; Ex. 8 [Deposition of Forrest Kelly Browning] at 40:10-41:18.) In January 2007, Avery also received a report showing that the Carter’s heat-transferred labels contained 23.6 ppb of formaldehyde. (Am. Sim-erlein Deck, Ex. 35.) According to Plaintiffs, this exceeded Avery’s standard of 20 ppb for children under 36 months. (Mem. at 8.)

b. Consumer Complaints and Carter’s Response

By early November 2007, Carter’s had received complaints about the tagless labels. (FAC, Ex. F at 17-18.) In response, Carter’s took a number of steps. Carter’s quickly redesigned the labels to include less ink. (Am. Simerlein Deck, Ex. 51 [email exchange] at 3.) Carter’s also reviewed the earlier testing of the labels, and confirmed that they all had passed. (Id. at 117:23-118:15.) It also did new tests on returned garments to see what could have caused the skin problems. (Am. Simerlein Deck, Ex. 50 at 1-2.)3 Cater’s also hired temporary workers to process returns of garments with the tagless labels, and those workers re[495]*495mained until March 2010, by which time returns had abated. (Am. Simerlein Decl., Ex. 43 [Deposition of Mary J. Wiedenhaft] at 99:5-11,101:6-11.) Carter’s estimates that it received 3400 consumer complaints as of January 2010. (Am.

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Bluebook (online)
272 F.R.D. 489, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12597, 2011 WL 343961, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/webb-v-carters-inc-cacd-2011.