Exclusive
Target has a target on its back, legally speaking … the retail giant is being sued over the effectiveness — or lack thereof — of its store-brand hand sanitizer to combat coronavirus.
A man named Mardig Taslakian from Los Angeles filed a class-action lawsuit against Target and its super popular store brand up&up claiming the company deceptively markets its hand sanitizer “to eliminate 99.99% of germs” when there’s no proof to back that claim.
According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Taslakian has beef with Target marketing its up&up-brand hand sanitizer as comparable to Purell … which is dealing with its own lawsuit over allegedly misleading claims.
Taslakian claims the same January 17, 2020 warning letter the FDA sent to Purell — that there’s no scientific data to support its germ-killing effectiveness — should also apply to Target.
According to docs, Taslakian says that “by comparing its less expensive in-house private label product” to Purell’s more expensive hand sanitizer … Target misleads customers into thinking its hand sanitizer is as effective as Purell’s “and can therefore prevent disease or infection from, for example, Coronavirus and flu, along with other claims that go beyond the general intended use of a topical alcohol-based hand sanitizer.”
Although, Taslakian is accusing Target of insinuating its sanitizer combats coronavirus … the product never makes such a claim.
Taslakian want damages, including punitives, and an order stopping Target from making the claims on the bottles. We’ve reached out to Target, so far no word back.