Spokane Valley man leads class-action lawsuit against makers of Gore-Tex

A Seattle law firm, on behalf of a Spokane Valley man, has filed a class-action civil lawsuit against the maker of Gore-Tex, a synthetic waterproof membrane that revolutionized outdoor gear, over concerns that the company is misleading customers about the presence of harmful “forever chemicals.”

The federal suit was filed Tuesday in the Eastern District of Washington in Spokane by the law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, which has led several high-profile cases, including a $398 million settlement obtained last month following an antitrust suit filed against Tyson Foods Inc., Perdue Farms and others over alleged wage fixing.

In the case filed Tuesday, the lawsuit alleges that the makers of Gore-Tex, W.L. Gore & Associates, which is based in Newark, Delaware, has engaged in “greenwashing” its products. In other words, the suit accuses W.L. Gore of claiming its products are environmentally safe while they continue to use chemicals that have been shown to cause harmful side effects, such as cancer in humans.

“Gore’s greenwashing campaign misleads the public by purporting to be highly committed to environmental responsibility and at the forefront of sustainable manufacturing processes,” the complaint states. “But, in truth, Gore continues to produce Gore-Tex Fabric using PFAS, a suite of harmful “forever chemicals” with extremely dangerous health and environmental effects.

“Gore also fails to disclose that its Gore-Tex Fabric sheds PFAS chemicals via ordinary use, which means that outdoor enthusiasts, as well as those simply wearing Gore-Tex Fabric to keep dry, are inadvertently contaminating the environment areas and their water supply when they venture out in their GoreTex gear, as the gear sheds PFAS.”

The first plaintiff named in the suit is Micah Mason of Spokane Valley. Efforts to reach Mason on Wednesday were not immediately successful.

But according to the suit, Mason relied on “environmentally sound” advertising and labels when in 2021 he purchased Volcom snow pants that contained the Gore-Tex membrane, a breathable barrier that allows water vapor from sweat to escape but prevents water molecules from penetrating fabric.

Nowhere on the product’s labeling did it disclose that Gore-Tex contained PFAS or forever chemicals, the suit states.

“Had Defendant disclosed these practices, Plaintiff would not have purchased the Product or would have paid less for it,” the complaint states. “Defendant’s unfair, unlawful, and deceptive conduct in manufacturing, marketing, and selling Gore-Tex Fabric as environmentally beneficial has caused Plaintiff out-of-pocket loss.”

Waterproof revolution

According to its website, W.L. Gore & Associates was founded by a couple seeking to capitalize on a new invention.

Bill and Vieve Gore started the company in 1958 in their basement in Newark, Delaware, after discovering a potential use for polytetraflouroethylene, or PTFE, that had been developed by Roy Plunkett at Dupont in 1938.

Bill Gore gave up his job as a research chemist at Dupont, and the couple’s first experiments in the basement led to a waterproof, three-layer system that propelled the company into one of the 200 largest privately held companies in the U.S., according to its website.

The company employs some 13,000 people worldwide and generates about $4.8 billion in annual revenues. Gore-Tex is used in numerous products, including hunting boots and the uniforms that U.S. service personnel use to stay warm in cold climates.

An email to W.L. Gore & Associates seeking comment was not immediately returned on Wednesday.

Forever chemicals

According to the lawsuit, the company recognized years ago that it may have problems regarding the chemicals it uses to make the waterproof membranes.

The lawsuit includes recent images of company advertising under the heading: “Performance for the people. Performance for the planet. Our performance as a company depends on the sustainable performance of our products, our operations and our people.

“We are working to protect the planet and people because our society, and our business, depends on it,” the advertisement reads.

At issue is a group of manmade chemicals, perflouroalkyl and polyflouroalkyl, known as PFAS, that are also knowns “forever chemicals.”

Developed in the 1940s, PFAS have been used for multiple consumer products and industrial applications, but the chemicals take years to degrade in nature.

High levels of the chemicals, the suit states, have since been linked to cancers, heart disease, high cholesterol, thyroid disease, low birth weight and other ailments.

Locally, high levels of PFAS on the West Plains have been traced to firefighting foam used at the Air Force base and Spokane International Airport.

According to the lawsuit filed this week, W.L. Gore realized more than a decade ago that its customers required environmentally safe products.

Gore-Tex, which was first marketed in 1976, works as a three-layer system. The layered systems are then sold to other apparel manufacturers who are required to note the Gore-Tex brand.

In the past, the company acknowledged that it used products that contained APFO, or ammonium salt form of perfluorooctanoic acid, a chemical within the broader group of PFAS. But the federal government in 2014 outlawed its use for manufacturing.

Then in 2021, W.L. Gore announced that it had developed a new Gore-Tex lining that used an expanded polyethelene that does not contain PFAS, according to the suit.

“But Defendant does not disclose that Gore still includes ePTFE in several of its current products and still uses a (durable water repellent) treatment derived from PFAS,” the suit states. “Gore also omits disclosure that its Gore-Tex Fabric still sheds PFAS via ordinary use.”

The suit alleges that studies have shown that PFAS used in the garments can shed the chemicals as the they degrade with use.

“This means that hikers who are taking their outdoor apparel on the trails are inadvertently shedding PFAS material straight into the pristine environments they are appreciating and seeking to preserve,” the complaint reads. “This also means that regular consumers are also inadvertently shedding PFAS into local water supplies while walking on city streets, spending time in their yards, or while enjoying city parks.”

In addition to Mason, of Washington, the suit seeks to include anyone who purchased Gore-Tex products from 2018 to 2024 from 27 other states, including California, Idaho and Montana and the District of Columbia.

In the complaint, where it explains why attorneys chose Spokane federal court as the venue, attorneys noted that they were seeking more than $5 million in damages. But the 138-page complaint later asks the judge to determine damages at trial.

Asked whether the firm had a damages figure in mind, Steve Berman, who signed the complaint on behalf of the law firm, said he did not.

“That will be the subject of expert testimony,” he wrote in an email.