Jessica Alba Calls Lawsuit Over 'Deceptive' Packaging 'Baseless'

U.S. actor Jessica Alba has responded to a lawsuit against her eco-friendly beauty line, the Honest Company Inc., which is being sued by a consumer for "deceptively and misleadingly" labelling its products as being "natural."

In a statement sent to Newsweek, Alba described the allegations as "baseless and without merit." "I know my children, Honor and Haven, are growing up in a safer home because of our products," she added.

According to legal documents seen by Newsweek, consumer Jonathan D. Rubin filed a class action lawsuit in California federal court against the company after he found Honest branded hand soap, diapers and multi-surface cleaner contain "synthetic" ingredients, even though the company describes itself as a "natural" and "nontoxic family product business." Rubin backed up his claims with studies from an environmental group that deemed Honest's ingredients to be "potentially hazardous."

In the document, Rubin also claims Honest sunscreen is "ineffective." Earlier this year, multiple users of the product complained on Amazon reviews, saying they got sunburned despite protecting themselves using the company's SPF 30 sunscreen lotion. The posts were mainly submitted by distressed parents whose children were severely sunburned, while some users complained on social media by tweeting pictures of their burns.

At the time, Alba responded to poor reviews and complaints on behalf of the company in a post on their blog. "Protecting our loved ones and yours is the reason we founded Honest. As parents, it pains us to hear that anyone has had a negative experience with our Sunscreen," wrote Alba on the website.

"We develop and use Honest Sunscreen to protect our own children—Honor, Haven, Luke, Evie, and Poppy—at the park, in the pool, outside, every day. As with everything we do, we take sun protection seriously here at Honest."

The lawsuit says that Rubin is seeking to establish a nationwide class of consumers while demanding that all profits generated from the five products should be refunded to people who have purchased them.

The Honest Co. was founded in 2011 by Jessica Alba and author of best-selling book Learn How to Create a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home, Christopher Gavigan. It was recently estimated to be worth $1 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal, after raising $70 million at a valuation prior to an initial public offering in August.

In her statement, Alba defended the brand and said she was proud of the company and committed to using natural ingredients.

"We believe that consumers deserve to know what's in their products—whether it's diapers for their children, cleaning products for their families or beauty products for themselves," the statement said. "Our formulations are made with integrity and strict standards of safety, and we label each ingredient that goes into every product—not because we have to, but because it's the right thing to do.

"The allegations against us are baseless and without merit. We strongly stand behind our products and the responsibility we have to our consumers. We are steadfast in our commitment to transparency and openness."