A California man has sued the maker of Texas Pete-brand hot sauce products, alleging the company deceptively advertises itself as having Texas ties, while it is in fact made in North Carolina. White v. T.W. Garner Food Co., No 22-6503 (C.D. Cal., filed September 12, 2022). The plaintiff has brought a proposed class action against T.W. Garner Food Co., a North Carolina company, alleging the company’s labeling and advertising campaign “is overloaded with references to Texas.” “Although Defendant brands the Products ‘Texas Pete,’ there is surprisingly nothing Texas about them: unknown to consumers, the Products are standard Louisiana-style hot sauces, made with ingredients sourced outside the state of Texas, at a factory in North Carolina,” the complaint said. The plaintiffs noted that the packaging and labeling has “distinctly Texan imagery: the famed white ‘lone’ star from the Texan flag together with a ‘lassoing’ cowboy.” “Defendant concocted this false marketing and…
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Snyder's-Lance Inc. has voluntarily dismissed a lawsuit seeking to appeal a decision holding that it could not trademark "Pretzel Crisps" as a name for its product, which Frito-Lay North America Inc. had challenged before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Snyder's-Lance Inc. v. Frito-Lay N. Am. Inc., No. 21-1758 (4th Cir., filed August 31, 2021). The dismissal concludes years-long litigation disputing whether the "Pretzel Crisps" mark was too generic to be registered. An appeal of a lower court's ruling that the term is generic had been pending until Snyder's-Lance's voluntary dismissal.
Snyder’s-Lance, Inc. has filed a lawsuit in North Carolina federal court appealing a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) ruling that found the term “Pretzel Crisps” to be generic, arguing that TTAB “failed to consider all the evidence of the public’s perception of the Pretzel Crisps brand, despite clear direction from the Federal Circuit to do so.” Snyder’s-Lance, Inc. v. Frito-Lay N. Am., Inc., No. 17-0652 (W.D.N.C., filed November 6, 2017). TTAB initially deemed “pretzel crisps” generic after Frito-Lay opposed Snyder's-Lance’s application for a trademark; that decision was vacated by the Federal Circuit and remanded for reconsideration. Snyder's-Lance argues that during seven years of litigation, its Pretzel Crisps brand has become a market leader and is now the “number one product in the entire ‘deli cracker’ section in which it principally competes." The complaint also asserts that “both Frito-Lay and the TTAB panel agreed that ‘pretzel crackers’ generically and appropriately…
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit in North Carolina federal court against Food Lion alleging that the grocery retailer fired an employee because he was unavailable to work on Thursday evenings and Sundays, when he attended Jehovah’s Witness services as a minister and elder. EEOC v. Food Lion LLC, No. 14-708 (U.S. Dist. Ct., M.D.N.C., filed August 20, 2014). According to the complaint, a Food Lion manager hired the employee with knowledge and acceptance of his scheduling restrictions, but after the employee was assigned to a different store location, a second manager insisted on scheduling him on days that he attended religious services. When the employee chose to attend services over working his scheduled shift, he was fired. EEOC alleged that Food Lion’s employment practices violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, and…
African-Americans who briefly worked at a North Carolina farm in 2010 allege that they were subjected to a hostile work environment and discriminatory job conditions so the employer could obtain certification under a Department of Labor (DOL) program that allows farmers to hire seasonal foreign workers when U.S. workers are not available and hiring foreign workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers. Fulford v. Alligator River Farms, LLC, No. 11-00103 (E.D.N.C., filed June 20, 2011). The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission allegedly issued the plaintiffs a letter of determination relating to their claims. According to the complaint, DOL certification requires that employers undertake specified efforts to recruit U.S. workers after the need for the services of foreign workers (referred to as H-2A workers) arises. Among other matters, the employer must submit a job, or clearance, order to the local state employment agency. The…
The North Carolina State Health Plan (SHPNC) has reportedly approved fee increases for state employees who use tobacco or whose body mass index (BMI) qualifies them as obese. Under the new arrangement, private contractors hired by SHPNC will monitor workers’ weight and take saliva samples to test for cotinine, a nicotine derivative. The plan requires tobacco users to enroll in a more expensive insurance plan by July 2010, while members with a BMI exceeding 40 have until July 2011 to improve their overall health before seeing a cost increase. According to SHPNC, these fees will help alleviate budget shortfalls that last year necessitated an emergency infusion of $250 million to cover claims. “Tobacco use and poor nutrition and inactivity are the leading causes of preventable deaths in our state,” an SHPNC spokesperson told reporters. “We need a healthy workforce in this state. We’re trying to encourage individuals to adopt healthy…
