Seattle-based Stanley, which makes the hugely popular Stanley tumbler, is facing a slew of lawsuits accusing it of willfully misleading its consumers about the presence of lead in its products.
What is Lead?
Lead is a metal that can have a debilitating effect on the health of people upon exposure, especially children and expectant mothers.
Two separate lawsuits have been filed in the past week against Stanley, alleging that it failed to disclose that its products, including the widely selling Quencher tumbler, contained lead.
The lawsuits were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Stanley, in January 2024, informed its millions of customers who bought its products that the product contains lead. However, it clarified that the lead is used to seal the vacuum space and then covered with stainless steel. It reiterated that consumers are never in direct contact with the lead.
Stanley Lawsuit Allegations
However, the lawsuit contends that if the stainless steel covering is worn out due to wear and tear or by repeated washing, the risk of lead contamination is always there. Both lawsuits were filed by a Nevada woman who purchased the cup for $35 from Target and a California woman who purchased the cup from Dick’s Sporting Goods store.
Both women who filed the lawsuit said that they would never have purchased the cups if they had known that the cups contained lead.
The different complaints put forth in the lawsuit include breach of contract, express warranties, warranties of merchantability and fitness, contravention of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, and contravention of the Washington Consumer Protection Act.
One of the complainants later said that she had tested the caps for lead at home using a testing kit. However, Stanley said that the results of the testing kit are not reliable.
The lawsuit also said that other manufacturers like Hydro Flask, Owala, and Klean Kanteen use lead-free manufacturing processes for their products.
Stanley offers cups and tumblers of different sizes and colors and is marketed as durable, tough, leak-proof, and insulated, with liquids remaining hot and cold for hours. Most of its products are manufactured in Brazil and China and are certified as BPA-Free. Stanley sales have boomed in recent years, with its sales increasing manifold from $70 million in 2020 to almost $750 million in 2023.
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