Hawaiian Tropic Sunscreens Not as ‘Reef Friendly’ as Advertised, Class Action Alleges [UPDATE]
Last Updated on November 16, 2023
Richardson v. Edgewell Personal Care, LLC
Filed: October 7, 2021 ◆§ 7:21-cv-08275
A class action alleges the marketing and advertising for certain Hawaiian Tropic “Reef Friendly” sunscreens is false and deceptive.
November 16, 2023 – Hawaiian Tropic Sunscreens "Reef Friendly" Class Action Revived
The proposed class action lawsuit detailed on this page, which was dismissed last year, was revived on October 30, 2023 after the plaintiff filed a successful appeal with the United States Court of Appeals (USCA) for the Second Circuit.
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In a six-page summary order issued on October 30, USCA Clerk Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe vacated the judgment of the New York federal court that granted the defendant’s June 2022 motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s amended complaint.
The New York court dismissed the case in January of this year, concluding in a 16-page opinion and order that the front-label “Reef Friendly*” representation on the sunscreen products at issue was not materially misleading, and that the plaintiff failed to allege that Edgewell Personal Care had breached an express warranty.
The USCA, with which the plaintiff filed a notice of appeal on January 31, 2023, disagreed with the district court’s decision, arguing in the six-page summary order that the “Reef Friendly*” statement could, in fact, mislead a reasonable consumer into thinking the sunscreen contains no reef-harming ingredients.
In the summary order, the USCA panel said that the products’ back-label disclaimer—“*No Oxybenzone or Octinoxate” or “*Hawaii 10 Compliant: No Oxybenzone or Octinoxate”—is “incomplete” because it fails to mention four other reef-harming ingredients found in the sunscreens.
“[A] reasonable consumer cannot be expected to know the universe of chemicals harmful to coral reefs such that she could discern from an ingredient list describing the product’s contents in scientific terminology whether a product is in fact ‘Reef Friendly,’” the USCA clerk wrote.
The USCA panel additionally found that the New York court had “erred” in dismissing the plaintiff’s breach of express warranty claim.
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A proposed class action alleges the marketing and advertising for certain Hawaiian Tropic “Reef Friendly” sunscreens is false and deceptive in that the products contain chemicals known to harm and/or kill coral reefs.
The 22-page complaint alleges Hawaiian Tropic “Reef Friendly” sunscreens, made and sold by defendant Edgewell Personal Care, contain reef-toxic compounds such as avobenzone, homosalate and octocrylene, chemical UV filters that can cause coral bleaching and other damaging effects should they wash off the skin and enter a body of water.
According to the case, consumers would not have bought Hawaiian Tropic “Reef Friendly” sunscreens, or would not have paid as much for them, had they known they contained chemicals potentially harmful to coral reefs.
Octocrylene is a chemical UV filter that the Haereticus Environmental Laboratory (HEL), a non-profit organization dedicated to “increasing the scientific, social, and economic knowledge of natural habitats,” has reported naturally degrades into the chemical benzophenone, the lawsuit says. Per the case, benzophenone acts as a potential reproductive toxicant and a metabolic and endocrine disrupter in coral reefs.
The National Ocean Service has also advocated against the use of chemical UV filters such as octocrylene given their negative impact on coral reefs, which can include tissue accumulation, bleaching, DNA damage, deformation of infant coral, and coral death, according to the lawsuit.
With regard to avobenzone and homosalate, the filing says the former may cause mitochondrial dysfunction, kill cells or induce coral bleaching, while the latter is also included in the HEL’s list of harmful chemicals.
Included in the complaint is the following infographic from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration purporting to depict how chemicals found in sunscreen can be harmful to marine life:
According to the lawsuit, lawmakers in Hawaii and the U.S. Virgin Islands have banned certain chemical UV filters from inclusion in sunscreen due to the damage they can cause to coral reefs and marine life.
Nowhere on Hawaiian Tropic’s packaging does Edgewell Personal Care disclose that certain chemicals in the sunscreens are not “reef friendly,” the suit says, adding that the company knew or should have known its advertising claims were false, deceptive and misleading.
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Hair Relaxer Lawsuits
Women who developed cancer, endometriosis or reproductive problems after using hair relaxers such as Dark & Lovely and Motions may now have an opportunity to take legal action.
Read more here: Hair Relaxer Cancer Lawsuits
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