SACRAMENTO — A federal judge will allow Country Fresh Batter, a cookie company, to amend its lawsuit against Lion Raisins.
On July 13, Judge Dale Drozd of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California ruled Country Fresh Batter's failure to include allegations in the original filings was caused by “simple miscommunication between attorney and client.”
"Having found that defendant has made no showing of prejudice, bad faith, or futility, and in light of this circuit's policy of granting leave to amend 'with extreme liberality," ... the court is satisfied that the granting of leave to amend is warranted here," Drozed wrote in the six-page order.
Judge Dale Drozd of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
The cookie company, which does business as Hope's Cookies, filed its first lawsuit against Lion Raisins after the raisin supplier allegedly ended a purchasing agreement without warning. Hope's Cookies says the supplier breached a contract, causing the cookie company to suffer “substantial costs." The cookie company claims the supplier was to sell 765,000 pounds of raisins for 2017.
Hope's Cookies also alleged fraud, but that claim was dismissed in an earlier ruling.
Lion Raisins maintains it complied with the modified contract that was submitted and signed by both parties on March 2017.
Hope's Cookies has 14 days to file the first amended complaint. The cookie company cannot add any causes of action.