Made-in-the-U.S.A. Complaint Does Not Make the Cut

In a case decided in December that flew beneath our radar, a judge in the Southern District of California dismissed without prejudice a proposed class action alleging that Citizens for Humanity falsely labeled its jeans as being made in the USA. Hass v. Citizens of Humanity, LLC, 2016 WL 7097870 (S.D. Cal. Dec. 6, 2016). This month, plaintiff notified the court that another amended complaint would not be filed, and the court has now dismissed the case with prejudice.  On the face of it, this case may not seem especially noteworthy, but the rationale for the court's decision is emblematic of what may be becoming a long-overdue trend.

Under California Business and Professions Code § 17533.7, it is unlawful to sell an article marked Made in the USA if the article has been "entirely or substantially made, manufactured, or produced outside of the United States."  Effective January 1, 2016, the statute contained a safe harbor for products in which foreign parts do not