On June 27, 2025, U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria certified a class of California consumers who purchased select John Paul Mitchell Systems (JPMS) hair care products in the case Randall Heagney, et al., v. JPMS. OnPoint expert Dr. Gareth Macartney, in his expert report and subsequent deposition, demonstrated that a common methodology can be used to calculate class-wide damages resulting from the products allegedly falsely labeled as involving “no animal testing.” Dr. Macartney recommended utilizing a hedonic price analysis or conjoint analysis to determine the premium that consumers paid because of the allegedly false labelling. Based on Dr. Macartney’s opinions, the Court found that “plaintiffs have established that their damages can be measured on a classwide basis.” Notably, the court found that rather than solely reflecting demand side factors, Dr. Macartney’s proposed conjoint analysis framework also accounts for supply side factors through the use of actual market prices and sales data. The class is represented by counsel from Hagens Berman Sobol Sharpiro and the case is Randall Heagney, et al., v. John Paul Mitchell Systems, No. 3:23-cv-00687-VC.
