A federal judge has dismissed what was a proposed class action lawsuit that accused Nike of greenwashing in marketing claims related to its sustainability collection.

The case drew considerable attention in the promotional products industry and among marketers more broadly as it included claims that recycled polyester and recycled nylon used in some of the Nike products are not actually sustainable materials and thus can’t be marketed or advertised as such.

Had that view been substantiated by the courts, it could have potentially affected sustainability stories that marketers create around products containing recycled polyester and nylon, including apparel sold in promo.

Still, the big shakeup wasn’t to be, at least from this case.

U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp has granted Nike’s motion to dismiss the suit brought by plaintiff Maria Guadalupe Ellis. In an order filed June 10, Schelp also denied Ellis’ post-dismissal request that asked, in effect, if she could file an amended complaint, which would have opened the door for the case to continue.

Case Dismissed

In dismissing the case, Schelp wrote that Ellis failed to establish any facts that Nike’s products are not made with recycled and organic fibers and do not contain sustainable materials.

“How does she know this to be true? She does not say,” Schelp wrote.

He said Ellis alleged no further information to establish how she has concluded that the more than 2,000 products she claims contain no recycled or organic fibers are made with virgin synthetic and non-organic materials.

“She makes no mention of any testing or analysis,” Schelp wrote. “She says nothing about how their look or feel might indicate their makeup. She puts forth no allegations surrounding the supplier of defendants’ materials. She claims nothing about the manufacturing process. She details no inside knowledge from, say, a whistleblower, for example, who has come forward on this alleged massive corporate lie …”

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Schelp opined that all Ellis does offer is that “she purchased three products from Nike’s Sustainability Collection and her unadorned conclusion that more than 2,000 of Nike’s Sustainability Collection products are not made with any recycled and organic fibers.”

In laymen’s terms, Schelp ultimately concluded that a dismissal was warranted because Ellis didn’t offer evidence/reasonable assertions that Nike’s statements about its sustainability collection were misleading, false or fraudulent, which would be required to establish liability.

He also dismissed claims Ellis made under state law in Missouri, where the case was filed in federal court, on the grounds that she did not establish that she’d acted as a reasonable consumer would under the circumstances.

Case Background

Greenwashing is a form of advertising or marketing spin in which public relations and marketing are deceptively used to persuade the public that an organization’s products, aims and/or policies are environmentally friendly when in fact they are not.

In her failed suit, Ellis said she purchased certain Nike products that she claimed Nike marketed as sustainable, paying what she asserted was a premium on the belief they were eco-friendly. However, the suit stated, she and others who bought such products were deceived because the goods are not actually sustainable, with the majority being made from “virgin synthetic materials.”

Ellis said even certain Nike products made with recycled polyester and recycled nylon are not environmentally friendly because such materials are “still plastic” and not biodegradable – a claim that, like the rest of the suit, was not upheld.

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