02.02.23
Kimberly-Clark has asked a Texas federal judge to throw a proposed class action suit by four parents alleging that its Huggies brand diapers caused unsafe levels of a proprietary chemical and caused burns. The Dallas, TX-based manufacturer reportedly says the claims are meritless.
The suit was filed by New York Attorney C.K. Lee and the Lee Litigation Group last year, alleging that Huggies diapers caused severe chemical burns to their infants, which in one case involved a life-threatening ulcer. The complaint was lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, where Kimberly-Clark is headquartered, but the plaintiffs hail from four different states and seek to represent a nationwide class of consumers defrauded by Kimberly-Clark.
As detailed in the class action complaint, concerns about the safety of Huggies diapers have been proliferating for years. Kimberly-Clark's response to parents' concerns about the safety of Huggies has always been to dismiss these as about run-of-the-mill diaper rashes. The company has stated, "We can assure you our Huggies products can't cause a chemical burn because they're made of materials which do not create any chemical reaction, nor will they react with stool and urine."
Relying on the insider knowledge of a whistleblower, former Kimberly-Clark quality assurance specialist Frank Fritz Kromenaker, the class action complaint alleges that these assurances are a bald-faced lie. Instead, Kromenaker alleges that Kimberly-Clark fails to rigorously inspect and maintain the machinery that dispenses a proprietary chemical known as Ahcovel on Huggies diapers, frequently causing excessive amounts to be dispensed. The complaint alleges that the disproportionate number of serious injuries reported by parents using Huggies is the result of Kimberly-Clark's persistent negligence on this front.
The suit was filed by New York Attorney C.K. Lee and the Lee Litigation Group last year, alleging that Huggies diapers caused severe chemical burns to their infants, which in one case involved a life-threatening ulcer. The complaint was lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, where Kimberly-Clark is headquartered, but the plaintiffs hail from four different states and seek to represent a nationwide class of consumers defrauded by Kimberly-Clark.
As detailed in the class action complaint, concerns about the safety of Huggies diapers have been proliferating for years. Kimberly-Clark's response to parents' concerns about the safety of Huggies has always been to dismiss these as about run-of-the-mill diaper rashes. The company has stated, "We can assure you our Huggies products can't cause a chemical burn because they're made of materials which do not create any chemical reaction, nor will they react with stool and urine."
Relying on the insider knowledge of a whistleblower, former Kimberly-Clark quality assurance specialist Frank Fritz Kromenaker, the class action complaint alleges that these assurances are a bald-faced lie. Instead, Kromenaker alleges that Kimberly-Clark fails to rigorously inspect and maintain the machinery that dispenses a proprietary chemical known as Ahcovel on Huggies diapers, frequently causing excessive amounts to be dispensed. The complaint alleges that the disproportionate number of serious injuries reported by parents using Huggies is the result of Kimberly-Clark's persistent negligence on this front.