Safeway Recall Notification Putative Class Action Paused During Search for New Plaintiffs

Finding a lack of standing, a California federal court has dismissed the
named plaintiffs of a putative class action against Safeway alleging that
the company should have notified customers who purchased dangerous
products through information gathered from its loyalty-card program.
Hensley-Maclean v. Safeway, Inc., No. 11-1230 (N.D. Cal., order entered
June 29, 2015). Details about the court’s refusal to dismiss the case
before discovery appear in Issue 398 of this Update.

After proceeding through discovery, Safeway apparently learned that
none of the plaintiffs had purchased any products subject to Class I
recalls, which occur “when there is a reasonable probability that use of
the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death.”
The two named plaintiffs had argued that Safeway should have notified
them about recalls of Nutter Butter® Sandwich Cookies and Lucerne® eggs, but later examination revealed that their purchases were not part of
any Class I recalls. The court then granted the plaintiffs’ motion for leave
to add two new class representatives who purchased recalled products
from Vons, a Safeway subsidiary.

Issue 571