Our weekly roundup aims to keep our readers up to date on recent notable rulings in the food & consumer packaged goods space. Kristie Brownell v. Starbucks Coffee Co., No. 5:22-cv-01199-FJS-ATB (N.D.N.Y. – July 12, 2023):...more
1. Consumer Law Reforms - 2023 will see an increase in class action lawsuits targeting per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in consumer products as more PFAS-limiting laws go into effect. Specifically, we expect food...more
DraftKings Settles Class Action Lawsuit for $8 Million - Settlement is a hybrid payment whose lion’s share is in-game currency - Two Fair Households - It wasn’t too long ago that DraftKings and FanDuel, the biggest names in...more
Judge Louis L. Stanton of the Southern District of New York recently granted defendant Wegmans Food Markets’motion to dismiss claims alleging that Wegmans falsely labels its vanilla ice cream. Plaintiffs sued Wegmans for...more
On June 8, 2020, Judge Katherine Polk Failla in the Southern District of New York dismissed a putative class action against TGI Friday’s (“Friday’s”) for alleged deceptive advertising....more
In a multidistrict litigation accusing McCormick & Co. of deceptively underfilling the pepper it sells in grinders and tins, a D.C. federal judge preliminarily approved a $2.5 million class settlement last week. Consumers...more
LEGISLATION, REGULATIONS & STANDARDS - Senate Bill to Investigate PFAS Introduced - Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) have introduced legislation that would providing...more
LEGISLATION, REGULATIONS & STANDARDS - FDA Warns About Color Additives, Manufacturing Practices - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned three dietary-supplement manufacturers about their marketing and...more
Wage and Hour - Decision Upholds Class Action Waivers in Arbitration Clauses, Resolves Circuit Split - The U.S. Supreme Court issued a long-awaited decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis on May 21, 2018, holding that...more
Parties Settle Kombucha False Advertising Action - Retta, et al. v. Millennium Products, Inc., No. 2:15-cv-01801 (C.D. Cal.): The Ninth Circuit entered an order granting Objector-Appellant’s motion for voluntary dismissal...more
Quiroz v. The Apple & Eve, LLC, No. 2:18-cv-00401 (E.D.N.Y.): Putative class action alleging violation of New York’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and False Advertising provision of the GBL, as well as California’s...more
Shook Partners Lindsey Heinz and Katie Gates Calderon, with Associate Hillary Nicholas, have authored an article for Law360 discussing regulations related to the use of photography during a U.S. Food and Drug Administration...more
Last April, we reported on Ebner v. Fresh, Inc., in which a Ninth Circuit panel held that the plaintiff failed to state a claim that Sugar lip balm packaging was misleading because it contained non-functional “slack-fill.”...more
On September 2, 2016, United States District Judge Dean P. Pregerson for the Central District of California granted in part and denied in part a motion to dismiss a class action complaint alleging violations of the UCL and...more
According to named plaintiffs in a consumer fraud action filed in December in the Southern District of California, size matters when making it comes to making a purchase. In fact, Plaintiffs claim that the average consumer’s...more
Plaintiff Angela Eber filed a putative class action against Fresh, Inc. alleging that the label, design and packaging of its Sugar lip balms deceived consumers about the amount of available product. In a published panel...more
This newsletter aims to keep those in the food industry up to speed on developments in food labeling and nutritional content litigation. RECENT SIGNIFICANT RULINGS - Court Rejects Class Settlement Bid in MSG Case - ...more
On November 2, 2015, Judge Alsup of the Northern District of California dismissed a consumer class action against food manufacturer Plum Organics for failure to state a claim. In Workman et al. v. Plum Inc., D/B/A Plum...more
For plaintiffs concerned that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals’ June 19, 2015 decision in Brown v. GNC Corp. signaled the muscling in of a stricter new pleading standard for false advertising class actions nationwide, a...more