National retailers must pay $5.5 million to resolve deceptive product representation

Federal Issues DOJ FTC Enforcement UDAP Deceptive FTC Act Penalty Offense Authority

On May 10, the DOJ announced that two national retailers agreed to pay a $2.5 million and a $3 million civil penalty (see here and here) to resolve allegations that they engaged in false labeling and marketing tactics by presenting rayon textile products as bamboo. As previously covered by InfoBytes, the DOJ on behalf of the FTC, filed complaints (see here and here) against the defendants, which alleged that since at least 2015, the companies made false or unsubstantiated representations in violation of the FTC Act by improperly labeling and marketing textile fiber products as “made of bamboo” in both product titles and descriptions. In addition to paying the civil money penalties, the defendants are prohibited from making deceptive claims, including false and/or unsubstantiated claims, relating to bamboo fiber products, and are prohibited from engaging in future violations of the FTC Act, Textile Act and Textile Rules.