Ninth Circuit Rejects Objections to Nutella Settlement

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the settlement of class actions
alleging consumer fraud in ads portraying Nutella as a healthy breakfast
food. In re Ferrero Litigation, No. 12-56469 (9th Cir., decided July 16, 2014)
(unpublished). Three members of the certified statewide class objected to the
settlement, which provided $550,000 to reimburse class members, required
ad-campaign and product-labeling revisions and awarded $985,920 in
attorney’s fees. The objectors claimed inadequate notice of the attorney’s fee
request, lack of justification or explanation for the fee award and the district
court’s failure to consider whether class counsel adequately represented
the class. The court found no basis for the objections, noting in part that
the district court properly applied the lodestar method to the attorney’s fee
calculation and that no indicia of collusion were present.

Issue 530