PrintThe U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York found that allegations that a company misled consumers about the amount of product they were purchasing were not sufficient to state a claim of breach of contract due to the lack of privity or fraud where any misrepresentation was not material.
Anna Waldman sued New Chapter Inc., the company that manufactured Berry Green, a "spoonable whole-food" product. Waldman alleged that New Chapter misled consumers by listing Berry Green's weight in grams rather than ounces as most U.S. consumers were unfamiliar with the metric system.
Additionally, Waldman alleged that consumers were misled into believing that they were purchasing more product than they actually were because there was too much empty space (slack fill) in the packaging. The complaint asserted clams of breach of contract, common law fraud and unjust enrichment.
New Chapter moved to dismiss all claims for failure to state a claim. Under New York law, no privity exists between a manufacturer and an indirect purchaser. As Waldman lacked privity with New Chapter, she could not assert a contract-based claim.
The district court agreed that Berry Green's packaging implicitly misrepresented that a consumer was buying more than what was actually sold. However, allegations of the complaint did not sufficiently plead that the misrepresentation was material.
The "more" that a consumer thought he was receiving did not mean weight or servings because Berry Green's packaging accurately disclosed the product's weight and number of servings.
The district court found that the complaint, at most, alleged that Berry Green's packaging implicitly misrepresented the product's density. Waldman, however, did not allege that she or other putative class members were concerned about density.
New Chapter argued that Waldman's unjust enrichment claim failed because she received the exact amount of product listed on the package. The district court rejected the argument. Waldman alleged that New Chapter included the slack fill to mislead consumers. It was undisputed that Berry Green's packaging did not allow a consumer to view its contents. The district court concluded that Waldman sufficiently alleged an unjust enrichment claim based on a slack fill theory.
Waldman's unjust enrichment claim based on the metric system theory warranted dismissal. The complaint did not allege that Waldman was unfamiliar with the metric system. Without that necessary allegation, the district court found that Waldman could not legitimately allege that it was against equity and good conscience for New Chapter to retain what she was seeking to recover.
The district court granted in part and denied in part New Chapter's motion to dismiss.
Judge : Joanna Seybert
Counsel for plaintiff : Harry I. Katz, Harry I. Katz P.C., 718-463-3700, Fresh Meadows, N.Y.
Counsel for New Chapter : David Paul Kasakove, Bryan Cave L.L.P., 212-541-2000, New York.
Source: Class Action Law Monitor, 06/15/2010
Copyright © 2010 by Strafford Publications, Inc. http://www.straffordpub.com / All rights reserved. Storage, reproduction or transmission by any means is prohibited except pursuant to a valid license agreement.
