The HexClad lawsuit settlement resolved a class action accusing the cookware brand of falsely marketing its hybrid pans as “non-toxic” and “PFAS-free” when the nonstick coating contained PTFE, a chemical the plaintiffs argued belongs to the PFAS family. HexClad’s parent, One Source to Market LLC, agreed to pay $2.5 million into a non-reversionary fund and to stop using those marketing claims on any product containing PTFE or other PFAS chemicals.1Classaction.org. Cliburn et al. v. One Source to Market LLC Settlement Agreement Final approval came on March 9, 2026, and the settlement administrator began mailing checks to approved claimants on May 21, 2026.2ClaimDepot. HexClad $2.5M Cookware False Advertising Settlement
What the Lawsuit Claimed
HexClad advertised its hybrid stainless-and-nonstick cookware as “non-toxic,” “PFOA-free,” and “PFAS-free.” Every covered product carried a nonstick coating made with polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE. The plaintiffs argued PTFE is a fluoropolymer built from carbon and fluorine atoms, which places it inside the PFAS family under California’s legal definition. Selling a PTFE-coated pan while labeling it “PFAS-free,” the complaint said, was greenwashing.
The case also leaned on California’s Safer Food Packaging and Cookware Act of 2021, which prohibits manufacturers from marketing a product as “free” of a chemical when other chemicals from the same class are present. HexClad has publicly described PTFE as “safe and inert.” The plaintiffs said that framing did not cure the labeling problem, because the statute and the advertised “free from” language turn on chemical class, not on the safety debate.1Classaction.org. Cliburn et al. v. One Source to Market LLC Settlement Agreement
What the Settlement Requires
The $2.5 million fund is non-reversionary, so unclaimed money does not go back to HexClad.1Classaction.org. Cliburn et al. v. One Source to Market LLC Settlement Agreement The court granted preliminary approval on April 22, 2025, and final approval on March 9, 2026.3Classaction.org. $2.5M HexClad Settlement Reached in False Advertising Lawsuit Over Supposedly Non-Toxic Cookware
On the marketing side, HexClad agreed to stop advertising products as “non-toxic,” “PFOA free,” or “PFAS free” if those products contain PTFE or any other PFAS chemical.3Classaction.org. $2.5M HexClad Settlement Reached in False Advertising Lawsuit Over Supposedly Non-Toxic Cookware The company denied wrongdoing throughout the case.4The Daily Meal. Gordon Ramsay Cookware Brand HexClad Controversy
Who Qualified and What Claimants Received
The class covered anyone in the United States or its territories who bought a qualifying HexClad product between February 1, 2022, and March 31, 2024, from any retailer. Covered items ran across the hybrid line: fry pans from 7 to 14 inches, woks, griddle pans, saucepans, stock pots, sauté pans, and bundled sets including the 13-piece Hybrid Cookware Set and the 20-piece All-In Bundle.3Classaction.org. $2.5M HexClad Settlement Reached in False Advertising Lawsuit Over Supposedly Non-Toxic Cookware
Claimants buying one or two products did not need proof of purchase. Anyone claiming three or more had to submit a receipt, order confirmation, or similar record. Payments were pro rata, splitting the net fund across valid claims. Reporting on the settlement put the number of timely claims at roughly 209,700 and the net fund at about $1.35 million after fees and costs, working out to approximately $6 per claim.5Top Class Actions. $2.5M HexClad Cookware Class Action Settlement
The claim window has closed. The filing deadline was November 14, 2025, and paper checks to approved claimants started going out on May 21, 2026.3Classaction.org. $2.5M HexClad Settlement Reached in False Advertising Lawsuit Over Supposedly Non-Toxic Cookware2ClaimDepot. HexClad $2.5M Cookware False Advertising Settlement New claims can no longer be filed.
Where the Case Was Filed
The dispute began in federal court. Three plaintiffs, Khuschbu Didwania, Pratikkumar Patel, and Benjamin Adams, sued in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on June 27, 2023, raising breach of express warranty, negligent misrepresentation, and California consumer-protection claims.1Classaction.org. Cliburn et al. v. One Source to Market LLC Settlement Agreement That case, No. 2:23-cv-05110, was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice on December 22, 2023.6CourtListener. Khuschbu Didwania v. HexClad Cookware Inc., Docket 2:23-cv-05110
The same day, plaintiffs led by Mandy and Matthew Cliburn filed an amended complaint in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Case No. 23STCV28390, folding in the three former federal plaintiffs. The consolidated group of eight named plaintiffs brought claims under the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, the California False Advertising Law, the California Unfair Competition Law, and the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act, along with warranty and unjust enrichment claims.7Classaction.org. Cliburn et al. v. One Source to Market LLC Amended Complaint
The Bigger PFAS Cookware Fight
HexClad is not alone. A similar suit was filed against Made In Cookware, and a 2022 Consumer Reports investigation found that a Swiss Diamond pan sold as “PFOA-free” contained measurable amounts of PFOA and other PFAS compounds. Consumer Reports concluded that “PFOA-free” labels on PTFE-containing cookware are generally unreliable.8Classaction.org. Made In Cookware Lied About Use of Harmful Forever Chemicals, Class Action Alleges
Much of the fight is definitional. PTFE is a fluoropolymer, and California law classifies it as a PFAS. Cookware makers argue that PTFE in its polymerized, finished form behaves differently from the shorter-chain PFAS compounds regulators have focused on. Plaintiffs answer that advertising a PTFE product as “free” of the class PTFE belongs to is misleading on its face, whatever the safety science says about the cured coating.
HexClad’s Current Marketing
As of mid-2026, HexClad’s website promotes a newer line built around what it calls a “TerraBond™ ceramic nonstick coating,” described as “PFAS-free” and “free from forever chemicals.”9HexClad. HexClad Cookware That language appears aimed at a ceramic line rather than the original hybrid PTFE-coated pans at issue in the lawsuit. The settlement barred “PFAS-free” claims specifically for products containing PTFE or other PFAS chemicals, so compliance turns on whether the newer coating is in fact free of every compound in the class.