Court Denies Certification in Tito’s “Handmade” Suit

A New York federal court has denied class certification to a plaintiff alleging that Fifth Generation, Inc. falsely advertised Tito’s Handmade Vodka, ruling that the plaintiff failed to propose a model to measure the alleged price premium. Singleton v. Fifth Generation, Inc., No. 15-474 (N.D.N.Y., entered September 27, 2017). The court noted that the plaintiff had satisfied certification requirements, but because he testified that he did not intend to purchase the product again, he had no standing to seek injunctive relief. In addition, the plaintiff’s failure to provide a “suitable model to measure the alleged price premium for Tito’s vodka due to the ‘handmade representation’” led the court to rule that common issues did not predominate over individual ones. Additional details appear in Issue 590 of this Update.