Company: COST
Filing Date: 2025-03-13
Form Type: 10-Q
Source: 0000909832-25-000015
Chunk: 43

Company: COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP /NEW
Filing Date: 2025-03-13
Form: 10-Q
Item: Item 8
Chunk 43
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 Act, California Invasion of Privacy Act, and California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act. The consolidated complaint also alleges breach of implied contract, invasion of privacy, conversion, and unjust enrichment. The Company filed a motion to dismiss the Castillo complaint on March 11, 2024. In November 2024 the court denied the motion to dismiss in substantial part. On May 16, 2024, the parties stipulated to stay Birdwell pending resolution of Castillo. On January 2, and August 22, 2024, the Company received related civil investigative demands from the Washington Attorney General's Office. On January 3, 2024, the Company received a related pre-litigation letter from the Los Angeles Office of the County Counsel. The Company is in the process of responding to both agencies.On June 20, 2024, a class-action lawsuit was filed against the Company and Nice-Pak Products, Inc., alleging that Kirkland Signature Fragrance Free Baby Wipes contain 3.7 parts per billion of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The complaint alleges that the label claim that the wipes are “made with naturally derived ingredients” thus violates various state consumer protection and false advertising laws. The complaint seeks unspecified damages, including punitive damages, as well as equitable relief and attorneys' fees and costs. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss on August 9, 2024. Bullard, et ano., v. Costco Wholesale Corp., et ano., No. 3:24-cv-03714 (N.D. Cal.). On February 14, 2025, the court granted this motion; plaintiffs have permission to file an amended complaint.The Company has been served in over seventy product liability cases in California and Oregon related to its alleged sale of artificial and natural stone countertops. These lawsuits allege strict liability, negligence, breach of warranty, fraud, and failure to warn claims on the grounds that the fabricators and cutters of the stone slabs used to fabricate countertops offered for sale by Costco are exposed to silica particulates in the air while performing such work, allegedly causing lung diseases, including, but not limited to, silicosis. The defendants in these cases include the manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. The Company denied all claims, has filed cross-claims pertaining to indemnity and contribution, and otherwise sought indemnity from responsible parties and has now been dismissed from nearly all of these cases.

15

In January 2023 the Company received a Civil Investigative Demand from the U.S