You may have heard about a Nectar mattress lawsuit, but the company has actually been involved in several legal actions. We break them all down here.
Mattress shoppers in search of quality sleep may have heard news of a Nectar mattress lawsuit and be curious about the details. The reality is that there have been a number of lawsuits against mattress companies for issues ranging from false advertising to health hazards caused by fiberglass.
Indeed, Nectar Sleep has faced multiple legal actions over the past few years, most notably in connection with marketing representations about where its mattresses were made or assembled.
So, what is the Nectar mattress lawsuit about? And what are the latest updates? Let’s take a closer look at what is leading to the Nectar mattress lawsuit headlines.
Nectar Brand LLC and its parent company, Resident Home LLC, have already faced multiple legal backlashes related to the marketing of their mattresses.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a complaint against Nectar in 2018 alleging that the company falsely advertised that its mattresses were “assembled in the United States.” Instead, the FTC alleged that Nectar imported its mattresses from China and that no assembly was performed in the US.
Nectar reached an agreement with the FTC that prohibited the company from making representations about its products being made or assembled in the US unless certain strict criteria were met.
A few years later, though, the FTC issued another complaint against Nectar Sleep's parent company, Resident Home LLC, due to representations made by DreamCloud, another mattress brand it owned. The FTC complaint noted that Resident Home claimed DreamCloud’s mattresses were “proudly made with 100% USA-made premium quality materials,” which the FTC alleged were false claims and contradicted representations the company had made to the FTC following the 2018 complaint.
Resident Home LLC and its owner agreed to pay $753,000 to settle the 2021 FTC charges that “they made false, misleading, or unsupported advertising claims.” The FTC initiated a claims process for customers who were influenced to purchase DreamCloud mattresses on the basis of their “USA-made” representations.
There is also yet another class action lawsuit against Nectar relating to their discounts. In October 2022, a plaintiff filed suit in California based on allegations about deceptive pricing practices and how Nectar represents purported discounts.
The plaintiff alleges that Nectar misrepresents its mattress prices by showing retail prices and discounted prices while purportedly never actually selling mattresses for the “regular” prices. Indeed, the complaint alleges, “Nectar has never once sold a single product at its supposed ‘regular’ price.” The lawsuit claims violations of various state and federal consumer protection laws.
Having been filed in October 2022, this lawsuit is still in the early stages of litigation.
No, there is not yet any class action lawsuit against Nectar over the fiberglass used in their products, although there has been speculation dating back to the spring of 2023 that law firms might be taking steps to prepare one.
Some Nectar mattresses contain fiberglass as part of the flame retardant layer of the mattress. Fiberglass can be useful for insulation, such as in pipes and appliances, and is cheaper than other fire-retardant materials, but it can also have negative health effects. Health effects from fiberglass exposure could include “skin, eye, and upper respiratory tract irritation,” according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Issues can occur when fiberglass is released from within a mattress cover, sometimes leading to adverse health effects and costly cleaning bills when people attempt to clear their living space of fiberglass. One study recently noted, "[t]he use of fiberglass and other chemicals in mattress covers poses a potential health risk if these materials are not adequately contained," making clear the importance of adequate warnings from mattress manufacturers to avoid the risk of these tiny glass shards escaping and causing fiberglass contamination.
Time will tell whether there is a Nectar fiberglass lawsuit.
Part of the reason for speculation over a Nectar mattress fiberglass lawsuit is because of other lawsuits against mattress companies over fiberglass allegations.
For instance, there is a class action lawsuit against Zinus, a South Korean mattress company that sells one of Amazon’s best-selling mattresses, relating to the fiberglass in their memory foam mattresses. The lead plaintiff alleged that when fiberglass was released from a mattress she purchased for her daughter, it caused around $20,000 in damages.
The parties reached a settlement in that lawsuit in August 2023.
So, what is the latest update on the Nectar mattress lawsuit? The answer depends on which lawsuit you’re curious about.
The false advertising complaints filed by the FTC in connection with their claims about making or assembling their mattresses in the USA have been resolved. Nectar settled with the FTC and agreed to pay a fine of $753,000 in connection with the 2021 complaint.
The class action lawsuit filed in California relating to deceptive pricing practices is pending, and no outcome has been reached.
Meanwhile, there has thus far not been a class action lawsuit filed against Nectar regarding the presence of fiberglass in its mattresses, despite speculation that law firms might be interested in bringing such a lawsuit.
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