Casey v. Odwalla, Inc.

338 F. Supp. 3d 284
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedSeptember 19, 2018
Docket17-CV-2148 (NSR)
StatusPublished
Cited by60 cases

This text of 338 F. Supp. 3d 284 (Casey v. Odwalla, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Casey v. Odwalla, Inc., 338 F. Supp. 3d 284 (S.D. Ill. 2018).

Opinion

NELSON S. ROMÁN, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Tara Casey ("Plaintiff"), instituted this putative class action by filing a federal complaint on March 24, 2017, on behalf of herself and others similarly situated. (See Compl. (ECF No. 1).) Plaintiff asserts that defendants Odwalla, Inc. ("Odwalla") and The Coca-Cola Company ("Coca-Cola") (collectively, "Defendants") violated the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1983 (the "FDCA") and the New York General Business Law (the "GBL") §§ 349 and 350 and misled consumers when they labeled certain juice products "100% Juice" with "No Added Sugar." (See Compl. ¶ 1.) Plaintiff also asserts a claim for unjust enrichment. (Id. )

Before the Court is Defendants' motion to transfer pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a),1 or in the alternative for dismissal for failure to state a cause of action pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) and for dismissal of Plaintiff's request for injunctive relief pursuant to Federal Rule of Procedure 12(b)(1) for lack of standing ("Defendants' Motion"). (See Defendants' Brief in Support of their Motion to Dismiss ("Defs. Br.") (ECF No. 24) at 1-3.) For the following reasons, Defendants' Motion is DENIED.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The following facts are derived from the Complaint; their truth is assumed for purposes of this motion only. See Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009).

Defendant Odwalla is a subsidiary of Coca-Cola that manufactures "over forty varieties of premium juices, smoothies, protein shakes and snack bars." (See Compl. ¶¶ 9, 16.) Odwalla is a California corporation and Coca-Cola is a Delaware Corporation with its principal place of business in Georgia. (Id. ¶¶ 9, 10.) Of the various products it produces, Odwalla manufactures *290and sells premium Odwalla "100% Juice" juices which contain the phrase "No Added Sugar" on the label (the "Juices"). (Id. ¶¶ 16, 17.) Plaintiff does not dispute that the label is correct; as such, Plaintiff concedes that the Juices do not contain added sugar. (Id. ¶ 17 (noting that the label "is technically true".) The labeling on Defendants' Juices appears as follows:

Plaintiff is a health conscious New York resident who purchased the Juices, including Groovin' Greens 100% and Berry Greens 100% Juice. (See Compl. ¶ 8.) In purchasing the Juices, Plaintiff "relied on Defendants' misleading statements that the product contained 'No Added Sugar.' " (Id. ) Plaintiff would not have purchased the product in absence of the "No Added Sugar" label. (Id. ) Plaintiff contends that Defendants' inclusion of this phrase is impermissible under the FDCA, because the Juices "do not resemble or substitute for a food that normally contains added sugar because fruit and vegetable juices do not normally contain added sugar." (Id. ¶ 19.) Consequently, Plaintiff contends that the inclusion of "No Sugar Added" on the Juices is misleading, as it makes consumers believe that other 100% Juices without the "No Added Sugar" label contain added sugar and are therefore not as healthy. (Id. ¶¶ 20-24.) As a result of this deceptive labeling, consumers pay a premium for Defendants' products. (Id. ¶ 21.)

Defendants' moved to transfer this matter to the Central District of California, or in the alternative, to dismiss the Complaint for failure to state a cause of action. After the motion was fully submitted, Defendants filed a request asking this Court to take judicial notice of a letter dated August 31, 2017 written by Douglas A. Balentine, Director of the Office of Nutrition and Food Labeling, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, at the United States Food & Drug Administration (the "FDA Letter"). (See Defendants' Request for Judicial Notice ("Defs. Req.") (ECF No. 31), Ex. A.) The letter was written to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (the "CSPI"), in response to the CSPI's May 24, 2017 letter requesting that *291"the FDA take action to enforce its regulation" to prohibit companies from labeling 100% juices as "No Added Sugar." (See Defs. Req., Ex. B.) The letter is not published on the FDA's website, but was obtained by Defendants through a Freedom of Information Act request. (See Defs. Req., Ex. A.)

LEGAL STANDARD

I. Rule 12(b)(6)

On a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, a court must assess whether the complaint "contain[s] sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to 'state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.' " Iqbal , 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) ). "While legal conclusions can provide the framework of a complaint, they must be supported by factual allegations." Id. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937. The Court must take all material factual allegations as true and draw reasonable inferences in the non-moving party's favor, but the Court is " 'not bound to accept as true a legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation,' " or to credit "mere conclusory statements", or "[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action." Id. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting Twombly

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338 F. Supp. 3d 284, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/casey-v-odwalla-inc-ilsd-2018.