Lifetime Products Settled California Made in USA Suits Over Hoops With Chinese Nets and Bolts

Lifetime Products Inc. makes its basketball hoops almost entirely at its factory in Clearfield, Utah. But some bolts and the nets come from China, and that drew two California class actions over its “Made in USA” labels, The Wall Street Journal reported on September 30, 2014.

The suits and the settlement

The consolidated cases in San Diego County Superior Court claimed that Lifetime and The Sports Authority labeled Lifetime basketball products “Made in USA” even though they contained Chinese-made parts. The class covered people who bought the products in California between April 11, 2007, and December 31, 2012. The defendants denied the allegations and settled without admitting liability.

• Lifetime agreed to pay $325,000 to charity over five years, $8,000 to the two named plaintiffs and $485,000 to the plaintiffs’ lawyers, the ABA Journal reported.
• Class members could claim a $12.50 or $30 gift card or a free basketball, depending on what they paid.
• The settlement included a permanent injunction against Lifetime.

Why California was different

The FTC allows an unqualified “Made in USA” claim when a product is “all or virtually all” made in the USA. California’s law at the time was stricter: a product could not carry the label if any part was “entirely or substantially” made abroad. “It’s kind of crazy,” Lifetime CEO Richard Hendrickson told the Journal. “If you can’t call what we do ‘Made in USA,’ what is?”

Plaintiffs’ lawyer John Donboli of San Diego defended the strict standard. “I think there are some things where it just makes sense to stick to a 100 percent standard,” he said. Lifetime now qualifies its claims. Its plastic folding chairs, which contain eight imported rivets, read “Made in the USA from US and imported parts.”

California later relaxed the statute to allow a small share of foreign content (our coverage).