SAN JOSE, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - Class action lawyers mad the maker of Arnold Palmer drinks marketed them as "lite" have failed the key test in consumer deception lawsuits.
A federal judge has ruled a "reasonable consumer" would not have been fooled by how AriZona Beverages presented the drinks, which are half-tea, half-lemonade and named after the legendary golfer. Plaintiff Andre Miller claimed calling them "lite" despite their sugar and calorie contents was a violation of several California consumer protection lawsuits.
But these types of cases must clear the "reasonable consumer" hurdle, and this one did not, wrote San Jose federal judge Rita Lin on June 5.
"Drawing all inferences in Plaintiffs' favor, it is plausible that 'Lite' on the drink label here means low calorie or low sugar, which Plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged the drink is not," Lin wrote in a five-page order granting AriZona's motion to dismiss.
"However, still drawing all inferences in Plaintiffs' favor, it is also plausible that 'Lite' on the drink label here instead means only that the drink is comparatively lower in sugar or calories than a reference drink."
So if a reasonable consumer wanted to find out exactly what "Lite" means, he or she could simply look at the nutrition label on the back of the bottle.
The sugar and calorie information is "plainly printed" there, Lin wrote, concluding lawyers failed to plausibly allege the drink label is false or misleading to reasonable consumers.
Kyle Gurwell of The Law Office of Kyle Gurwell in Huntington Beach teamed with controversial class action lawyer Spencer Sheehan of New York to bring the case last year. Sheehan has pursued hundreds of consumer deception class actions, sometimes angering judges with his novel theories.
One judge has called him a "wrecking ball" and another in New York is currently considering what punishment he will receive after being held in contempt.
Sheehan first gained notoriety as the "vanilla vigilante," filing a host of lawsuits that claimed vanilla flavoring in products did not contain traditional vanilla.
Sheehan has sued because the strawberry flavoring in Pop-Tarts comes from pears and apples and is dyed red. He complained Bagel Bites have cheese that is a blend made with skim milk and feature tomato sauce that contains ingredients consumers wouldn't expect (the judge hearing that case called his claims "unreasonable and unactionable").
Last year, he lost a lawsuit that said the fudge in fudge-covered Oreos should adhere to traditional definitions of "fudge" by containing more milk fat and not palm oil and nonfat milk.
Ashley Furniture has sued him in Florida state court for targeting it with a lawsuit it had nothing to do with. It involved a third-party company offering warranties on furniture.
Lin told him and Gurwell that it would be doubtful they could file another amended complaint to fix their problems with the Arnold Palmer case but allowed them leave to do so anyway. They opted to voluntarily dismiss the case on June 11.
Their suit alleged the size of the 20-ounce bottles is misleading because it represents 167% of the recommended daily allowance of the ingredients, which are listed in 12-ounce servings. Miller alleges that the defendant uses a "dual column" label which further confuses consumers as to the number of calories "per serving" and "per container."
AriZona filed its motion to dismiss March 27 and was represented by Matthew Brunelli and Robert Paul Donovan of Stevens & Lee, plus lawyers at Wilson Turner Kosmo.