ESG Enforcement Tracker

Key facts:

The FTC sued retailers Kohl’s, Inc. and Walmart, Inc. for false marketing dozens of rayon textile products as bamboo. The two companies were accused of having falsely marketed textile products as bamboo, whereas the products were in fact made from rayon derived from bamboo.

Further, both companies were also charged with having deceptively claimed that those products were made using eco-friendly manufacturing processes, whereas in fact the manufacturing process of converting bamboo into rayon involved toxic chemicals and the emission of hazardous pollutants.

In court orders dated April 2022 and May 2022, the two retailers were required to cease the deceptive green claims and misleading promotions and pay US$2.5 million and US$3 million in penalties respectively.