Chavez v. Blue Sky Natural Beverage Co.

268 F.R.D. 365, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60554, 2010 WL 2528525
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedJune 18, 2010
DocketNo. C 06-6609 VRW
StatusPublished
Cited by55 cases

This text of 268 F.R.D. 365 (Chavez v. Blue Sky Natural Beverage Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chavez v. Blue Sky Natural Beverage Co., 268 F.R.D. 365, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60554, 2010 WL 2528525 (N.D. Cal. 2010).

Opinion

ORDER

VAUGHN R WALKER, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff Chris Chavez purports to represent a class of consumers against defendants Blue Sky Natural Beverage Co, Hansen Beverage Company and Hansen Natural Corp. for claims arising from allegedly false or deceptive labeling of beverages. The parties have filed motions for judgment on the pleadings or, in the alternative, summary judgment. Plaintiff has also filed a motion for class certification.

On May 27, 2010 the court heard oral argument on the motions. For the reasons set forth below, Plaintiffs motion for judgment on the pleadings and motion for class certification are GRANTED. Defendants’ motion for judgment on the pleadings is DENIED.

I

Defendants develop, market, distribute and sell beverages throughout the United States including the “Blue Sky” line of sodas and juices. Doe. # 1-1 at 3, 8. In September 2000 defendants acquired the Blue Sky natural soda business from the Blue Sky Natural Beverage Co. which had been based in and operated from Santa Fe, New Mexico since approximately 1980. Id. at 8. Until May 2006 the labels of Blue Sky beverage cans and bottles stated “SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO” OR “SANTA FE, NM.” The Blue Sky beverage containers also stated “CANNED FOR THE BLUE SKY NATURAL BEVERAGE COMPANY SANTA FE, NM 87501” or “CANNED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF BLUE SKY NATURAL BEVERAGE CO., SANTA FE, NM USA.” Id. Plaintiff alleges that the packaging of Blue Sky beverages also presents “a particularly Southwestern look and feel including without limitation (stylized) Southwestern Indian tribal bands across the top and bottom of the cans and bottles and pictures of what appear to be the Sangre de Cristo mountains that border Santa Fe, New Mexico on the eastern side of the city.” Id. Plaintiff further alleges that until May 2006 the homepage of defendants’ website (www.blueskysoda.com) prominently stated “Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A.” and listed a phone number with an area code assigned to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Id.

Plaintiff contends that since October 2000 there has not been any company named “Blue Sky Natural Beverage Co” operating in Santa Fe and that Blue Sky beverages are not manufactured or bottled in Santa Fe or anywhere else in the state of New Mexico. Id. at 9. Plaintiff alleges that from 1999 to summer of 2003 he purchased Blue Sky beverages over other comparable brands on the basis of defendants’ representations about the geographic origin of these beverages. Id. at 9-10. Plaintiff claims that he relied on defendants’ misrepresentations and thus lost the full value of the price he paid for the Blue Sky beverages which he would not have paid had he known the true geographic origin of the products. Id. at 10,13.

[369]*369Plaintiff brought this action on behalf of himself and similarly situated individuals on September 21, 2006 in San Francisco superi- or court. Doc. # 1. Plaintiff asserts four causes of action under state law: false advertising under California Business and Professions Code § 17500 et seq; unfair trade practices under Business and Professions Code § 17200 et seq; violation of the Consumers Legal Remedies Act, California Civil Code § 1750 et seq (“CLRA”); and common law fraud, deceit and/or misrepresentation.

Defendants removed the case to this court and promptly filed a motion to dismiss on several grounds including preemption of state law claims by the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. The court granted the motion to dismiss on grounds other than preemption. Doc. #40. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit reversed the dismissal and remanded the case. Doc. ##50, 55. It was thereafter assigned to the undersigned, Doc. # 52, following recusal of the prior judge. Doc. # 51.

On remand Plaintiff filed a motion to strike the affirmative defenses which the court denied. Doc. # 72. Plaintiff now seeks judgment on the pleadings or summary judgment on the affirmative defense of preemption. Doc. #82. Defendants seek judgment on the pleadings or summary judgment on the claim for relief under the CLRA. Doc. # 84. Plaintiff has also filed a motion for class certification. Doc. # 94.

II

A

The standard applied on a motion for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Rule 12(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is the same standard applied on a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6): accepting the allegations of the non-moving party as true, judgment on the pleadings is proper when the moving party clearly establishes on the face of the pleadings that no material issue of fact remains to be resolved and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Hal Roach Studios, Inc. v. Richard Feiner and Co., Inc., 896 F.2d 1542, 1550 (9th Cir.1989). If matters outside the pleadings are presented to the court, the motion must be treated as a motion for summary judgment under Rule 56. Fed R Civ Proc 12(d).

B

The question whether plaintiffs’ claims are preempted by federal law is presented in an unusual procedural posture by plaintiff moving for judgment on the preemption issue rather than defendants moving for dismissal on preemption grounds. Plaintiff earlier filed a motion to strike the affirmative defense of preemption. Doc. # 57. Upon denial of plaintiffs motion to strike, the court determined that plaintiff had failed to demonstrate that the preemption defense could not succeed under any set of circumstances. Doc. #72 at 6. On plaintiffs motion for summary adjudication the parties do not dispute that the preemption defense may be decided as a matter of law. Doc. # 107 at 26. The court determines that federal laws and regulations do not preempt plaintiffs state law claims and therefore grant plaintiffs motion for summary adjudication of the affirmative defense of preemption.

Pursuant to the Supremacy Clause, U.S. Const Art VI cl 2, federal law preempts state law when (1) Congress enacts a statute that explicitly preempts state law; (2) federal law occupies a legislative field to such an extent that it is reasonable to conclude that Congress left no room for state regulation in that field; or (3) state law actually conflicts with federal law. Chae v. SLM Corp., 593 F.3d 936, 941 (9th Cir.2010), reh’g en banc denied April 1, 2010 (citations omitted). The Supreme Court has identified two guiding principles of preemption jurisprudence: first, the purpose of Congress; second, the presumption against preemption “unless that was the clear and manifest purpose of Congress.” Wyeth v. Levine, — U.S. -, 129 S.Ct. 1187, 1194, 173 L.Ed.2d 51 (2009) (citations omitted).

Where Congress enacts an express preemption provision indicating its intent to preempt at least some state law, the court must nonetheless “identify the domain expressly pre-empted by that language.” Med-[370]*370ironic, 518 U.S. 470, 484, 116 S.Ct. 2240, 135 L.Ed.2d 700 (1996) (quotation omitted).

In Bates v. Dow Agrosciences LLC, 544 U.S. 431, 125 S.Ct.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
268 F.R.D. 365, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60554, 2010 WL 2528525, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chavez-v-blue-sky-natural-beverage-co-cand-2010.