A Massachusetts man claims he was misled about the flushable wipes he purchased.
And he’s not going to take it sitting down.
Mark Schotte, who lives in Beverly, filed a suit in US District Court against Stop & Shop, claiming that “the Wipes are not flushable, in that they do not break apart or disperse in a reasonable period of time after flushing, resulting in clogs or other sewage damage.”
The suit, which was featured on a Consumer World website, does not detail any damage to the plaintiff’s plumbing. Rather, it claims the packaging is “false and misleading” because it uses the word “flushable” prominently on the front while in small print on the back listing numerous cases in which the wipes should not be flushed down the toilet—including if doing so “violates local rules”; the toilet is in an RV, boat, or plane; if fat or grease are put in any drain in the home; and if “you are unsure of system capability.” And that disclaimer, the suit continues, is partially obscured by a white flap on the bottom seam of the packaging.
Asked for a comment, Caroline Medeiros, Stop & Shop’s external communications manager, wrote in an email that the company “does not comment on active litigation.”
Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know
Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.
It’s a putative class-action lawsuit, meaning attorneys are seeking other plaintiffs to join it. It seeks damages for all plaintiffs of at least $25 for purchasing the product or “actual damages” to any plumbing systems.
Flush to judgment: It is not, by a long shot, the only instance when wipes have been the butt of criticism.
- In Massachusetts, where the suit was filed, a bill was introduced in the state legislature this year that would require wipes makers to indicate the products should not be flushed.
- Officials in numerous states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, and Wisconsin, have blamed flushable wipes on costly sewer repairs and urged residents not to use them.
- In a Consumer Reports video from 2014, testers couldn’t get flushable wipes from major brands to break down, even when they dropped them in a KitchenAid mixer bowl filled with water and ran the mixer for 10 minutes.
“Flushing things that aren’t meant to be flushed can damage your own sewer pipes as well as the sewer treatment facilities that we all depend on,” Pennsylvania DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell said in a statement in 2020. “Even so-called ‘flushable’ wipes shouldn’t be put in the toilet.”