A California federal court has certified a statewide liability class in a lawsuit accusing Jamba Juice of labeling its home smoothie kits as “all natural” despite containing five synthetic ingredients—ascorbic acid, xanthan gum, steviol glycosides, modified corn starch, and gelatin—but it refused to certify the class for damages. Lilly v. Jamba Juice Co., No. 13-2998 (N.D. Cal., order entered September 18, 2014). The court dismissed Jamba Juice’s argument that the class was unascertainable because no purchase records existed for the kits, finding that such an approach would “have significant negative ramifications for the ability to obtain redress for consumer injuries.” The court agreed, however, with Jamba Juice’s proposition that the plaintiffs could not provide a plausible class-wide damages model, because they did not show “any evidence, expert reports, or even detailed explanation about how those damages models can be fairly determined or at least estimated.” See Bloomberg BNA, September 19, 2014.…
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Back Yard Burgers of Nebraska, Inc. has agreed to settle claims that it violated the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) by allegedly using the last five digits of customer credit-card numbers on its older receipts, instead of the last four digits. Keith v. Back Yard Burgers of Neb., Inc., No. 11-0135 (D. Neb., order preliminarily approving class settlement entered September 15, 2014). The company will pay $2,792,400 into a settlement fund, will provide coupons for a free soft drink with the purchase of an entrée to class members who submit valid claims, will not contest class counsel fees of up to 40 percent of the consent judgment—or $1,116,960—will quitclaim assign to the plaintiff any claim it may have against Data Cash Register (DCR) related to the class action and cooperate in pursuing collection of a consent judgment against DCR, and will comply with FACTA going forward. The class…
According to a news source, a 600-pound man, who worked as a Hometown Buffet restaurant manager, has filed a lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act against OCB Restaurant Co. in a Connecticut federal court, alleging that he was fired and replaced with a worker who “is not morbidly obese and does not suffer from chronic knee pain.” Flanders v. OCB Restaurant Co., LLC, No. 14-1239 (D. Conn., filed August 27, 2014). See Courthouse News Service, August 28, 2014. Issue 536
A fast-food worker in Oregon has reportedly sued her former employer, seeking $242,000 in damages on the ground that she was discharged because she became pregnant, after being told by general managers during a staff meeting that workers such as the plaintiff were not allowed to become pregnant because “they needed to be present and available at any time in order to perform their duties.” Melesio-Rojas v. Si-Pac Foods d/b/a Del Taco Gresham, No. n/a (Multnomah Cty. Cir. Ct., unknown filing date). According to a news source, the plaintiff claims that she was fired when she became noticeably pregnant after a customer complained that he did not receive all of his food, a reason she claims was “an excuse to terminate her because of her pregnancy.” The restaurant’s attorney has apparently indicated that the worker’s pregnancy-discrimination complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries lacked sufficient evidence to support…
New York City Council Member Benjamin Kallos (D-Upper East Side) has introduced legislation (442-2014) that would allow toy giveaways, digital rewards and other incentives only in children’s meals that meet strict nutritional requirements. If adopted, the Healthy Happy Meals Act would define “incentive item” as (i) “any toy, game, trading card, admission ticket or other consumer product, whether physical or digital, with particular appeal to children, which is provided directly by the restaurant,” or (ii) “any coupon, voucher, ticket, token, code or password which is provided directly by the restaurant and is redeemable for or grants digital or other access to any toy, game, trading card, admission ticket, or other consumer product with particular appeal to children.” The proposed rules would require children’s meals that offer such items to contain one serving of fruit, vegetable or whole grains and less than 500 calories and 600 milligrams of sodium. In addition,…
Russia has relaxed its food ban against the European Union by clarifying that it will allow imports of salmon and trout hatchlings, potato and onion seed, sugar maize hybrid and peas for planting, lactose-free milk, flavor additives, and food fibers. The move follows criticism from within the country on the effects the import prohibitions would have on Russians, and according to the Moscow Times, it will also ease the bans’ burden on neighboring Finland. To soften the effects on the markets for fruits and vegetables for the rest of Europe, the European Union has set aside €125 million to compensate producers for keeping several of their perishable products off the market to avoid a price collapse. Further information on Russia’s food bans appears in Issue 533 of this Update. See CNN, August 18, 2014, and Moscow Times, August 21, 2014. Within Russia, consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor has introduced fines—between 20,000 and…
Chipotle Mexican Grill investors have filed a motion for final approval of a derivative-action settlement in a lawsuit accusing the restaurant chain’s executives of breaching fiduciary duties by failing to comply with employee work authorization requirements. Mohammed v. Ells, No. 12-1831 (D. Colo., motion filed July 31, 2014). The case stems from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigation of the company that led to the firing of 450 Minnesota employees and 50 Washington, D.C., workers for lack of U.S. work authorization. In July 2012, Chipotle investors accused the company’s executives of breaching their fiduciary duties in several lawsuits that were later merged. After “intense, arm’s-length negotiations by experienced counsel,” the parties reached a settlement that earned preliminary court approval in April 2014. Under the settlement’s terms, Chipotle will provide twice-yearly reports to its audit committee, which oversees the company’s hiring requirement compliance. In arguing for settlement approval, the…
The Russian consumer protection agency, Rospotrebnadzor, has reportedly announced that it filed a claim alleging that McDonald’s has misrepresented the nutritional information of several hamburger and ice cream menu items and that two restaurant locations showed traces of E. coli contamination in their salads and Caesar wraps. Although Rospotrebnadzor said it filed a lawsuit on July 3, 2014, a McDonald’s representative told the media in late July 2014 that the company had not received either an official complaint from the court or a notice from the agency. The complaint allegedly accuses McDonald’s of listing nutritional information that indicated its hamburgers and milkshakes had about one-half or one-third of the actual calorie, fat, protein, and carbohydrate counts. According to The New York Times, Russia has targeted food imports during geopolitical tension before, banning cheese and wines from post-Soviet neighbors during times of disagreement with those countries. Following Russia’s annexation of the Crimean…
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Richard Griffin has reportedly determined that McDonald’s, USA, LLC will be named as a “joint employer respondent” if meritorious complaints alleging unfair labor practices against the company and its franchisees do not settle. According to the NLRB, 181 cases involving McDonald’s have been filed since November 2012. Press reports indicate that they involve claims that workers have been wrongfully fired, threatened or suspended because they have engaged in labor protests, campaigning for a $15 hourly wage and to unionize. Sixty-eight of the cases have apparently been found to have no merit, and 64 are currently under investigation. While Griffin’s advice memorandum to the NLRB’s regional offices authorizing 43 complaints brought by McDonald’s workers does not have the force of a full board ruling, it has sparked a firestorm of controversy among business interests. Noting that McDonald’s will contest the joint-employer allegation “in the…
A Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) report examining the sodium contents of popular restaurant meals has urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to set “reasonable limits on the amounts of sodium that can be used in various categories of food.” Although the 17 restaurant chains under review reduced sodium in their menu items by an average of 6 percent between 2009 and 2013, the consumer group singled out some companies for allegedly increasing sodium in the sample meals analyzed for the report. In particular, the report names the top 10 “saltiest meals in America” for both adults and children, noting that “79 percent of the 81 adult meals in the study still contained more than 1,500 milligrams (mg) of sodium,” with some meals topping out at 5,000 mg of sodium. “For far too long, the FDA has relied on a voluntary, wait-and-see approach when it comes…
