On Mar. 15, Judge David Hurd of the US District Court for the Northern District of New York sided with Sephora on its motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought by New York resident Lindsey Finster.
The fourteen-page response stated that the plaintiff failed to “plausibly allege any of the claims contained in her complaint,” which accused Sephora of seven violations including fraud and breach of warranty over its “Clean at Sephora” designation.
The ruling stated that nowhere in Sephora’s definition of “clean” did it state that products were free of all synthetic or harmful ingredients, but rather was clear that its designation was explicitly described as containing products formulated without specific ingredients.
“Plaintiff’s complaint leaves the Court guessing as to how a reasonable consumer could mistake the ‘Clean at Sephora’ labelling and/or marketing to reasonably believe that the cosmetics contain no synthetic or harmful ingredients whatsoever,” read the judge’s ruling, adding “nowhere on the label or in the marketing materials plaintiff cites does defendant make any claim that the products are free of all synthetic or harmful ingredients.”
The ruling also stated that Finster included “a laundry list of synthetic ingredients found in ‘Clean at Sephora’ cosmetics that she claims have been known to cause irritation or other human harm,” but “does not allege that these are the same ingredients that Sephora claims are not found in its ‘Clean at Sephora’ cosmetics.”
The dismissal of Finster’s complaint included leave to amend and refile by Mar. 29.
Learn more:
Sephora Responds to Claim Its Clean Beauty Programme Is Anything But
The LVMH-owned beauty retailer asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging its “Clean at Sephora” designation is false advertising.
