Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
Appeals Court Revives Juicy Juice Class Action Lawsuit
By Mike Holter
A federal appeals court Friday revived a class action lawsuit accusing Nestle USA Inc. of falsely advertising the health benefits of its Juicy Juice beverages, finding the plaintiffs alleged a reasonable deception could have occurred for at least one of the products.
Plaintiffs last month appealed the dismissal of two consolidated class action lawsuits alleging Nestle falsely advertised that its Juicy Juice fruit drinks would promote immunity health and brain development in young children, arguing that their claims were sufficient to move past the pleading stage.
In a split 2-1 decision, the Ninth Circuit agreed with their argument for at least one of the products. The appeals court determined that a lower court had correctly found the plaintiffs could not supports false advertising claims for Juicy Juice Immunity, but found they adequately argued that the marketing of Juicy Juice Brain Development created at least the potential for consumer deception.
The Ninth Circuit said the plaintiffs met the burden required under California’s Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law to adequately state a claim that children would have to consume “an impractical and extremely high quantity” of the Brain Development juice in order to obtain enough docosahexaenoic acid, or “fish oil,” to enhance brain development. They did not, however, prove there was anything false, deceptive or misleading about the marketing for Juicy Juice Immunity, it said.
The revived Juicy Juice Brian Development class action lawsuit will return to the Central District of California, where it was dismissed three times for failure to clearly state a claim under California’s unfair competition and false advertising laws.
The case is Chavez v. Nestle USA Inc., Case No. 11-56066, in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Plaintiffs are represented by Joseph P. Guglielmo and Christopher M. Burke of Scott & Scott LLP.
Updated March 11th, 2013
All class action and lawsuit news updates are listed in the Lawsuit News section of Top Class Actions
