American consumers: In February this year, with the support of the internationally active law firm Hagens Berman, a class action lawsuit against WL Gore & Associates, the manufacturer of Gore-Tex. Hagens Berman specializes in consumers: interior law cases and, among other things, edited Volkswagen’s diesel emission fraud. The allegation here: Greenwashing when using Pfas.
In the lawsuit submitted by Washington on February 11, 2025, WL Gore was accused of promising the public “that his laminate are ‘Pfc*-Frei’ and reflected ‘responsible performance’, while it continued to use environmentally harmful PFAs in his manufacturing process,” said the law firm’s press.
Deception of consumers: inside
This means that the lawsuit refers to the introduction of the new EPE membrane in 2021, which consists of expanded polyethylene, to manufacture PFAs is no longer necessary and which also uses a PFAS-Free DWR (Durable Water Repellency) coating for the upper substances. “Gore does not share the consumer: Inside, however, that only its next generation product line is manufactured in this way and that Gore still uses PFAs in its manufacture and products,” said the law firm.
“Gores Greenwashing campaign is deceptive by pretending to use strongly for environmental responsibility and to be at the forefront of sustainable manufacturing processes,” says the lawsuit. “In truth, however, Gore continues to produce Gore-Tex fabric using Pfas …”
The lawyers accuse the company of deliberately deceiving the Gore-Tex: on the inside. “Gore knew that his customers would not buy any products that could be associated with contaminated water reserves, and gore staged a Greenwashing campaign to cover up the effects of his products,” said Steve Berman, managing partner at Hagens Berman.
PFAS are “eternal drives”
With PFAs (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl compounds) or PFC (perfect hydrocarbons), a group of chemicals that are used in several thousand fabrics are used in the production of numerous products. They are used for the production of non -stick -coated cooking dishes, extinguishing foams and food packaging as well as for waterproof textiles and shoes. Since Pfas does not break down in nature and keep accumulating over the years, they are also referred to as “eternal drives”. PFAS has contaminated water, floors and food worldwide, and numerous studies show that they accumulate in the body of people and animals and lead to considerable health risks.
In the lawsuit, Wlgore & Associates “fraudulent disguise, unfair trading practices, misleading trade and violations of dozens of consumer protection laws of the states” are asserted. With the lawsuit, the plaintiffs want to ensure that gore gives correct and corrected information about his products. The aim is, for example, that Gore refunded the costs inside if you have bought the company due to the presumably misleading statements of Gore products from the company.
Due to the harmful environmental impact of PFAs, the European Union is discussing the ban on chemicals and has already restricted certain PFAs. It was only in February that France issued a ban on the use of PFAs in cosmetics and clothing. The ban will take place from the beginning of 2026.