5-Hour Energy® Plaintiffs Denied Class Certification
A federal court has denied class certification to plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation involving false advertising claims for 5-Hour Energy® drinks, finding they failed to allege that common issues predominate over individual ones, including a common definition of “energy.” In re 5-Hour Energy Mktg. and Sales Practices Litig., No. 13-2438 (C.D. Cal., order entered June 7, 2017). The plaintiffs could not establish the definition of “energy,” the court found, because they defined it as “caloric energy” based on U.S. Food and Drug Administration dietary-supplement standards but did not show that consumers interpret “energy” the same way. In addition, plaintiffs in California, Missouri and New Mexico proposed a theory of liability based on underfilling, alleging that the product provided only 3.7 minutes of caloric energy instead of five hours, while plaintiffs in other states did not argue for the theory.
Issue 637
