Colgan v. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc.

38 Cal. Rptr. 3d 36, 135 Cal. App. 4th 663, 2006 Daily Journal DAR 422, 2006 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 316, 2006 Cal. App. LEXIS 19
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 10, 2006
DocketB176953
StatusPublished
Cited by176 cases

This text of 38 Cal. Rptr. 3d 36 (Colgan v. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Colgan v. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc., 38 Cal. Rptr. 3d 36, 135 Cal. App. 4th 663, 2006 Daily Journal DAR 422, 2006 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 316, 2006 Cal. App. LEXIS 19 (Cal. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

Opinion

MOSK, J.

Defendant and appellant Leatherman Tool Group, Inc. (Leatherman) appeals from the trial court’s summary adjudication of Leatherman’s liability under the false advertising law (Bus. & Prof. Code, §§ 17500, 17533.7), 1 the unfair competition law (§ 17200 et seq.), and the Consumers Legal Remedies Act (CLRA) (Civ. Code, § 1750 et seq.) as the result of Leatherman’s labeling and advertising its products as “Made in U.S.A.,” when parts of those products were manufactured outside the United States. Leatherman also appeals from the judgment of restitution, the mandatory injunction, and the amount of the attorney fees awarded to plaintiffs.

We affirm the summary adjudication that Leatherman violated the false advertising law and the CLRA because, as a matter of law, there was sufficient manufacturing of components abroad so as to make Leatherman’s representations that its products were made in the United States deceptive. The evidence presented was sufficient, without further extrinsic evidence— such as a consumer survey—to establish that Leatherman’s representations were deceptive. We also affirm the summary adjudication that Leatherman violated section 17533.7, and therefore the unfair competition law, by selling products represented as “Made in U.S.A.” “when the merchandise or any article, unit, or part thereof, has been entirely or substantially made, manufactured, or produced outside of the United States.” (§ 17533.7.) That a product may have been designed, processed and assembled in the United States does not preclude the conclusion that a “part” of the product was “substantially made, manufactured or produced” outside the United States. As a matter of law, Leatherman’s products were substantially made outside the United States.

We reverse the restitution award because the trial court had no evidence to support its computation of the amount of restitution awarded. Whether or not restitution is an equitable remedy, that remedy still requires substantial evidence to support it. We affirm the statutory penalty of $1,000 under the CLRA. We affirm the injunctive relief, including the mandatory injunction, *673 except to the extent the injunctive relief concerns matters related to restitution. We remand the matter to the trial court to eliminate the restitution award, modify the injunction to take into account that there is no need to give notice for the purpose of restitution, and modify the attorney fees award to reflect the absence of any restitution award.

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Parties and the Products

Plaintiffs are representative members of a class of persons in California who purchased Leatherman tools during the class period. Leatherman is a privately held corporation based in Portland, Oregon that manufactures hand-held, multicomponent, multifunction tools comprised of components such as screwdrivers, pliers, saws, files, corkscrews, clip plates, locking T’s, and bit holders. 2

Leatherman offered for sale and sold 22 tool products in California during the class period and represented on the tool products, on packaging, and in advertising that the tools were made in the United States. Significant working parts of the tools were investment cast, 3 fineblanked, 4 formed, hardened, cut, forged, polished or machined in various foreign countries. The plier jaws that were investment cast in Mexico had the letters “USA” stamped onto the jaws themselves.

B. The Lawsuits and Leatherman’s Response

In April 2001 and July 2001, plaintiffs filed actions against Leatherman for violations of the false advertising law, unfair competition law, and the CLRA. Plaintiffs sought injunctive and equitable relief, including restitution, damages, punitive damages, attorney fees, and costs. The actions were consolidated on November 22, 2002, and class certification was granted on February 4, 2003. The class, as certified by the trial court, consists of two subclasses: the CLRA subclass, comprised of individuals who purchased in California from April 2, 1997 to the time of trial, Leatherman tools packaged, advertised or marked as “Made in U.S.A.” or “U.S.A.” for personal, family or household purposes; and the unfair competition law subclass, comprised of persons who *674 purchased in California from April 2, 1997 to the time of trial, Leatherman tools packaged, advertised or marked as “Made in U.S.A.” or “U.S.A.” 5 Both subclasses alleged violations of the false advertising law.

After plaintiffs’ lawsuits were filed, Leatherman’s management decided to change the representations on Leatherman’s tools and packaging. In July 2001, Leatherman’s chief executive officer sent an e-mail to employees informing them of management’s decision to implement these changes “as soon as reasonably possible in view of the required tooling changes and sell-through of existing inventory.” Leatherman stopped stamping the letters “USA” on the plier jaws used in certain of its tools. In September 2001, Leatherman changed the representations on its product packaging to state “Made in U.S.A. of U.S. and foreign components.” Leatherman did not, however, make any efforts to retrieve from retailers any of its products that contained unqualified “Made in U.S.A.” representations. Leatherman continued to advertise its products with unqualified “Made in U.S.A.” representations throughout the trial.

C. Summary Adjudication and Trial

The parties filed cross-motions for summary adjudication on the issue of Leatherman’s liability under the false advertising law, unfair competition law, and the CLRA. The trial court denied Leatherman’s motion and granted plaintiffs’ motions for summary adjudication, ruling that Leatherman had violated the false advertising law and the unfair competition law and that Leatherman had no defense to the claim for violation of the CLRA.

The case proceeded to a court trial on the remedies. The parties presented oral testimony, including expert testimony; documentary evidence; and Leatherman tools, packaging, and advertising.

Based on evidence of Leatherman’s prices and revenue, individual plaintiffs and the CLRA subclass argued that they were entitled to actual damages, measured by the difference between the retail price of the Leatherman tools and the retail price of other, allegedly similar Chinese-made tools sold in California. The individual plaintiffs and the unfair competition law subclass also requested restitution and offered two different formulas for calculating the amount of restitution. One formula was based on the retail purchase prices paid for the 22 allegedly misrepresented Leatherman tools up to an amount equal to Leatherman’s total California sales revenues for those tools. The other formula was based on Leatherman’s gross profits on the misrepresented products. There was no evidence quantifying the sums received by *675 Leatherman attributable to the “Made in U.S.A.” representations.

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38 Cal. Rptr. 3d 36, 135 Cal. App. 4th 663, 2006 Daily Journal DAR 422, 2006 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 316, 2006 Cal. App. LEXIS 19, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/colgan-v-leatherman-tool-group-inc-calctapp-2006.