Shein Lawsuits: Toxic Products, Data Privacy, and IPO Impact

Shein lawsuits span product safety, data privacy, deceptive pricing, intellectual property, and consumer protection, with active cases in Texas and California federal courts, resolved settlements in New York and California, and a stack of European regulatory actions including a €150 million French fine and a Digital Services Act investigation. The Singapore-headquartered fast-fashion retailer has been sued by state attorneys general, independent designers, consumers, and European regulators, and the accumulated legal pressure has helped push its planned IPO from New York to London to Hong Kong.

Texas Attorney General Suit Over Toxic Products and Data Sent to China

On February 20, 2026, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Shein US Services LLC and its affiliates in the District Court of Collin County, Texas, under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.¹ The petition makes two sets of allegations. The first is that Shein sells clothing, toys, and home goods laced with dangerous chemicals. Independent testing cited by the state found lead, cadmium, PFAS, phthalates, formaldehyde, and alkylphenol ethoxylates in items marketed to newborns, expecting mothers, and children. One pair of shoes contained 428 times the permitted level of phthalates. Three handbags contained 153 times the permitted level. Seven jackets had PFAS levels up to 3,300 times the legal limit.²

The second set of allegations concerns data. The petition argues that Shein’s privacy policy misleadingly omits that the company is subject to Chinese national intelligence, cybersecurity, and data laws passed between 2014 and 2017, which the state says could compel Shein to hand over American consumer data to the Chinese government. Governor Greg Abbott added Shein to the state’s Prohibited Technologies List on January 26, 2026.²

Texas is seeking civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, rising to $250,000 per violation when the consumer is 65 or older, plus a temporary restraining order barring Shein from collecting, sharing, or using Texas consumer data while the case is pending.² A Shein spokesperson said the company “strongly disagrees with the allegations in the complaint and will prove our position in court.”³ The case is in its early stages.

Fake Discounts Class Action in California

On May 5, 2026, three California residents led by Stacee Severino filed a proposed class action in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Severino et al. v. Shein US Services, LLC et al. (Case No. 3:26-cv-04062).⁴ The suit alleges Shein inflates the “original” prices on its in-house-branded products to make discounts look deeper than they are, and that the items were “rarely, if ever” sold at the higher reference prices. The plaintiffs point to historical pricing data from AliPrice.com and Microsoft Shopping showing the goods were consistently sold at or near the “sale” price for months.

The complaint invokes the California Unfair Competition Law, the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, and the California False Advertising Law, and seeks restitution, disgorgement, injunctive relief, compensatory and punitive damages, and attorney’s fees on behalf of both a California class and a national class.⁵ As of late May 2026, Shein had not yet responded to the court.⁴

California Shipping Delay Settlement

Shein settled a consumer protection lawsuit in July 2025 brought by the district attorneys of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Napa, and Sonoma counties. The complaint, filed in Napa County Superior Court, alleged Shein routinely failed to ship online orders within the 30 days required by California law, did not send the legally required delay notices, and did not offer refunds for late orders.⁶

The company agreed to pay $700,000, split between $600,000 in civil penalties and $100,000 in investigative costs, and is barred from making misleading statements about shipping or delivery times.⁷ It must also give customers clearer information about delivery timelines going forward.⁸ Shein did not admit liability.⁶

Designer Copyright and RICO Case

Shein has been named in more than 50 federal intellectual property lawsuits in the United States. The most legally significant was filed in July 2023 by three independent designers in California federal court: Krista Perry, Jay Baron of Retrograde Supply Co., and Larissa Martinez of Miracle Eye. They alleged Shein sold exact copies of their copyrighted designs and, unusually for a fashion case, brought claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.⁹¹⁰

The theory was that Shein’s model of churning out knockoffs at industrial speed amounts to a “long and continuous pattern of racketeering,” carried out through a decentralized web of corporate entities designed to avoid accountability. Perry alleged copying of her “Floral Bloom” design and wall art pieces, and said Shein had offered her $500 by email to resolve one complaint. Baron accused Shein of stealing his “Trying My Best” embroidered patch. Martinez alleged theft of her “Orange Daisies” overall design.¹¹

Shein moved to dismiss the RICO claim in October 2023, arguing copyright infringement cannot serve as a predicate act for racketeering. In November 2024, Judge Mark C. Scarsi of the Central District of California denied the motion, ruling that the designers had “viably alleged copyright infringement as a predicate act for their RICO claim.”¹² The case settled in September 2025 on undisclosed terms.¹³ Other IP plaintiffs against Shein have included Dr. Martens owner Airwair International, Nirvana, Chrome Hearts, Oakley, Ralph Lauren, Stussy, and Dolls Kill; most of those cases lasted about seven months and ended in voluntary dismissals following settlements.¹⁴

2018 Data Breach and New York Attorney General Settlement

In June 2018, hackers breached the systems of Zoetop Business Company, then Shein’s parent, compromising 39 million Shein accounts and 7 million Romwe accounts. Stolen data included names, email addresses, hashed passwords, and credit card details. More than 800,000 New York residents were affected.¹⁵

New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office found that Zoetop had publicly downplayed the breach, claiming only 6.42 million accounts were exposed and denying that credit card information had been stolen. The company also failed to notify most affected users or force password resets on compromised accounts.¹⁶ In October 2022, James secured a $1.9 million settlement requiring Zoetop to overhaul its security, including stronger password hashing, network monitoring, and a written incident response policy with timely consumer notification.¹⁵

Unwanted Text Messages Class Action

A class action filed in July 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana alleges Shein sent unsolicited marketing text messages to consumers registered on the national Do-Not-Call Registry, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The named plaintiff said she received three promotional texts in June 2025 despite registering on the Do-Not-Call list two months earlier. The complaint seeks a jury trial and monetary relief; no per-member payout has been announced.¹⁷ An earlier TCPA case, Simmone D. v. Shein Fashion Group, was filed in the Southern District of Florida in 2019 over similar autodialed marketing texts.¹⁸

European Regulatory Actions

EU-Wide Consumer Law Violations

In May 2025, the European Commission and consumer authorities from all 27 EU member states plus Norway and Iceland notified Shein of a broad set of consumer law violations: fake discounts not based on genuine prior prices, pressure-selling tactics using fabricated deadlines, misleading sustainability claims, deceptive product labels, hidden contact details, and misleading presentation of reviews and ratings. Shein was given one month to propose fixes; national authorities can impose fines tied to Shein’s annual turnover in each affected member state if it does not act.¹⁹

Digital Services Act Investigation

On February 17, 2026, the European Commission opened formal proceedings against Shein under the Digital Services Act. The investigation covers addictive design features like engagement-based rewards, a lack of transparency about product recommendation algorithms, and the sale of illegal goods on the platform. Shein had been designated a Very Large Online Platform in April 2024 after passing 45 million monthly EU users. A formal finding of non-compliance could carry fines of up to 6% of Shein’s global annual turnover.²⁰

€150 Million French Cookie Fine

On September 1, 2025, France’s data protection authority CNIL fined Shein’s Irish subsidiary, Infinite Styles Services Co. Limited, €150 million for placing advertising cookies on visitors’ devices the moment they opened shein.com, without consent. The CNIL found that the site’s cookie tools did not disclose the advertising purpose of cookies, did not identify the third parties placing them, and kept reading cookies even after users clicked “Reject all.” Shein modified the site during the proceedings, so no separate compliance order was issued.²¹

Independent Chemical Testing

The chemical findings in the Texas petition are echoed by outside testing. Greenpeace Germany published results in November 2025 from 56 Shein garments, reporting that 18 of them, or 32%, contained hazardous chemicals above the limits set by the EU’s REACH regulation. Fourteen exceeded EU limits for phthalates, seven contained concerning levels of PFAS, and the study also identified lead, cadmium, alkylphenol ethoxylates, and formaldehyde. An earlier Greenpeace Germany study in 2022 had tested 47 Shein products and found seven above EU limits.²²

Forced Labor Scrutiny

Shein’s supply chain has drawn separate government scrutiny, though not a lawsuit in itself. In May 2023, two dozen U.S. lawmakers wrote to the Securities and Exchange Commission citing “credible allegations of utilising underpaid and forced labour” and asking that Shein be required to independently audit its supply chain before selling shares in the U.S.²³ In January 2025, Shein’s European general counsel Yinan Zhu testified before the UK’s business and trade committee, which accused her of “wilful ignorance” after she said she was not qualified to answer whether Shein’s manufacturers use cotton from Xinjiang or operate in the region. The committee said it had “almost zero confidence” in the company’s ability to verify its supply chain. Shein says it has “zero tolerance for forced labour” and that its suppliers must follow a code of conduct aligned with International Labour Organization conventions.²⁴

How the Litigation Has Affected Shein’s IPO

The combined weight of these cases has reshaped Shein’s plans to go public. The company first explored a New York listing but pulled back after U.S. lawmakers opposed it over forced labor concerns. It then shifted to London, where the Financial Conduct Authority subjected the filing to heightened scrutiny and Shein reportedly failed to secure approval from China’s securities regulator. Investor pressure pushed the estimated valuation from around $50 billion down to about $30 billion. As of early 2026, Shein has filed for a Hong Kong IPO instead.²⁵²⁶

1
Texas Attorney General. Attorney General Ken Paxton Files Lawsuit Against Shein
2
Texas Attorney General. State of Texas v. Shein US Services LLC – Petition
3
DLA Piper. Texas AG Sues Shein Over Alleged Deceptive Practices and Data Privacy Risks
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ClassAction.org. Shein Lawsuit Accuses Retailer of Using Fake Sales to Drive Purchases
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Money. Shein Lawsuit Fake Discounts
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San Francisco District Attorney. Shein Settles Consumer Protection Action Brought by California District Attorneys
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Los Angeles County. Fast Fashion Company Shein Settles Consumer Protection Lawsuit
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NBC Los Angeles. Chinese Fast-Fashion Giant Shein Reaches Settlement With LA County
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CBS News. Shein Lawsuit RICO Sued Case
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TIME. Shein Lawsuit Copyright Infringement
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UNC Journal of Law and Technology. Fast Fashion Creating Even Faster Copies: Examining Shein’s IP and Racketeering Suit
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Bloomberg Law. Shein Fails to Escape RICO Claims in Designers Copyright Suit
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Law360. Krista Perry et al v. Shein Distribution Corporation et al
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The Fashion Law. Shein: The Latest Look at the Lawsuits for an Ultra-Fast Fashion Giant
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New York Attorney General. Attorney General James Secures $1.9 Million From Shein and Romwe Owner Zoetop
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BBC. Shein Owner Fined Over Data Breach
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Fashion Dive. Shein Class Action Lawsuit Do Not Call
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Top Class Actions. Did You Receive a Coupon via Text by Shein Fashion Group
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BBC. Shein Breaches EU Consumer Law
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CNIL via EDPB. Shein Fined €150,000,000 EUR by CNIL
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CNIL. Cookies Placed Without Consent: Shein Fined 150 Million Euros by CNIL
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CHEM Trust. Report Finds Hazardous Chemicals in Shein Clothing Above EU Limits
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BBC. Shein Accused of Using Forced Labour
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The Guardian. Shein Lawyer Accused of Wilful Ignorance Over Cotton Linked to Forced Uyghur Labour
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CNBC. Shein’s Embattled IPO Signals Mounting Troubles
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Financial Times. Shein Files for Hong Kong IPO