On Monday, August 3, a federal judge reinstated a number of claims in a false advertising putative class action lawsuit. The lawsuit was originally filed in December 2013 by parents and others who argue that they paid extra for Riddell football helmets, thinking they would do a better job than others of preventing concussions.
Chief U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle had dismissed the suit back in January, but he gave the lawyers for the parents leave to file an amended complaint to clarify their consumer fraud claims against Riddell. Accordingly, he refused to dismiss several of the claims on Monday, explaining that the amended complaint contained several necessary corrections, including details about which Riddell statements had convinced them to purchase the helmets.
Among these details alleged in the amended complaint was that Riddell had devised a marketing strategy that deceptively advertised its football helmets as containing “Concussion Reduction Technology.” This technology, the amended complaint continues, was said to be able to reduce the risk of concussion by 31 percent in some specific cases.