On Tuesday, Bath & Body Works, LLC. and Bath & Body Works, Inc. (Bath & Body Works) filed a motion to the Northern District of California to dismiss a consumer class action alleging false advertising for hyaluronic acid products.
According to the plaintiff’s amended complaint, Bath & Body Works is a specialty retailer of home fragrance, body care products, and soaps and sanitizer. These products include “water” or “hydrating” products containing hyaluronic acid (Hyaluronic Acid Products).
The lawsuit was initiated by two California residents on July 21, 2021, alleging that certain moisturizing Bath & Body Works regarding those products constituted false advertising. Specifically, the plaintiffs allege that the defendant’s claims that the Hyaluronic Acid Products “attracts and retains up to 1,000x its weight in water to make skin look smoother and more supple” are misleading because their ingredients are scientifically incapable of achieving the promised results.
The plaintiffs purport that Bath & Body Works has amassed enormous profits from its alleged false marketing campaign while leaving customers with an “overpriced” product that does not live up to its promises. The plaintiffs therefore sought an injunction preventing Bath & Body Works from making such claims on its products.
Bath & Body Works’s motion to dismiss states that the plaintiff’s original complaint had previously been dismissed for failure to properly allege standing for an injunction and claim that the amended complaint similarly fails. The motion states that in both the original and amended complaint, the plaintiffs failed to allege the requisite desire to purchase any of the defendant’s Hyaluronic Acid Products. Therefore, Bath & Body Works argues that the plaintiffs have failed to properly establish injury in fact for standing.
Further, the motion states that the defendant has stopped marketing and advertising its Hyaluronic Acid Products with the “1,000x “ claim at issue. Therefore, the defendant states that there is nothing to enjoin through the injunction since it has already stopped selling the Hyaluronic Acid Products with the claim the plaintiffs seek to prevent.
The plaintiffs are represented by Gutride Safier LLP, and the defendant is represented by Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP.
