Kohl’s Falsely Advertises Certain Bed, Bath Products as Made With ‘Bamboo,’ Class Action Alleges

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A proposed class action alleges Kohl’s has misleadingly represented that certain textile products are made from bamboo fibers.

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The 12-page lawsuit claims the retailer has misled consumers into believing that various textile products, such as bedding or bath towels, are made entirely from the natural grass by labeling the items as “Bamboo.” According to the complaint, Kohl’s has attempted to appeal to consumers’ “desire to help the planet” by touting the environmental benefits of bamboo, even though the products are, in fact, made with rayon, a fiber chemically manufactured from cellulose.

The case explains that consumers value textile products made from bamboo because the plant grows quickly with relatively little need for fertilizer, pesticides and water, making it a more natural and sustainable fiber. In contrast, the manufacturing process for rayon involves chemical reactions that materially alter cellulose such that the substance is different from how it naturally occurs, the complaint says.

This process also emits hazardous air pollutants, including carbon disulfide, carbonyl sulfide, ethylene oxide, methanol, methyl chloride, propylene oxide and toluene, the suit relays.

According to the filing, Kohl’s deceptively labels some products made of rayon with a logo that says “Cleaner Solutions” and specifies that the items are “[p]roduced free of harmful chemicals, using clean, non-toxic materials.” Similarly, the retailer describes other purported bamboo items as “made using materials tested for harmful substances and manufactured in environmentally friendly facilities that have safe and socially responsible work practices,” the complaint relays.

The lawsuit argues that the textile products Kohl’s markets as made with bamboo, which it sells under numerous store and national brands, cost at least 20 percent more than comparable non-bamboo versions.

“For instance, the Elle Décor bamboo sheets costs [sic] between $150 and $190, while a comparable set of sheets represented as cotton costs between $120 and $150,” the case says, claiming that the products at issue are worth less than what consumers are led to expect because they consist mainly of materials other than bamboo.

The plaintiff, a Florida consumer, sought to purchase textiles made from a more natural and sustainable fiber and bought one of the Kohl’s products at issue because she believed the textile was made with bamboo, as represented. The woman says she would not have paid as much for the item, or would not have bought it in the first place, had she known it was misleadingly represented.

As the case tells it, Kohl’s is required under federal regulations to identify the type of fiber present in its products using the generic name of the substance, “rayon.”

The lawsuit looks to cover anyone in Florida, Iowa, Idaho, Montana, Wisconsin and Arizona who purchased a textile product from Kohl’s made with rayon but marketed as made with bamboo during the applicable statute of limitations period.

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