Hodsdon v. Mars, Inc.

162 F. Supp. 3d 1016, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19268, 2016 WL 627383
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedFebruary 17, 2016
DocketCase No. 15-cv-04450-RS
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 162 F. Supp. 3d 1016 (Hodsdon v. Mars, Inc.) 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
Hodsdon v. Mars, Inc., 162 F. Supp. 3d 1016, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19268, 2016 WL 627383 (N.D. Cal. 2016).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING MARS INC.’S MOTION TO DISMISS THE COMPLAINT

RICHARD SEEBORG, United States District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

That children and forced laborers pick cocoa beans,on a daily basis is indisputably an international tragedy. The debatable question is whether defendants Mars, Inc., and Mars Chocolate North America, LLC, must inform consumers at the point of sale that Mars chocolate products likely contain cocoa beans picked under such conditions. Plaintiff Robert Hodsdon claims that California law obligates Mars to disclose that information on its labels and seeks to mandate such disclosure. To that end, he has filed three claims against Mars for violations of the Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”), Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 et seq. (Claim 1); the Consumers Legal Remedies Act (“CLRA”), Cal. Civ. Code § 1750 et seq. (Claim 2); and the False Advertising Law (“FAL”), Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17500 et seq. (Claim 3).

Mars contends that Hodsdon does not have standing to pursue these claims, and even if he does, that California law does not mandate such disclosures at the point of sale. Mars also argues that Hodsdon has not pleaded facts sufficiently to establish a violation of the UCL. Finally, it insists that, if California law requires disclosure of the labor practices of a manufacturer’s suppliers, then that mandatory disclosure violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

[1020]*1020The terrible reality of labor practices in the cocoa fields of Cote d’Ivoire notwithstanding, the FAL, UCL, and CLRA do not require the disclosure Hodsdon seeks. While Hodsdon has shown he has standing to bring these claims, the FAL does not provide the relief he requests, the claim accordingly may not proceed. Because Mars has no duty to disclose this information at the point of sale, Hodsdoris claims under the CLRA and the “unlawful” and “fraudulent” prongs of the UCL similarly may not advance. Finally, the business practice to which ’ Hodsdon objects — nondisclosure of information about its supply chain — is not “unfair” within the meaning of the UCL. There appears to be no possible method to cure these deficiencies, and therefore Hodsdon will not have leave to amend the complaint. Because Mars did not have a duty to disclose information about child labor in its supply chain, there is no need to address whether the safe harbor rule protects it from liability or whether Hodsdon’s proposed mandatory disclosure would violate the First Amendment.

II. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY1

Mars markets and distributes chocolate products in the United States and abroad. Some of the cocoa beans used to make Mars’s chocolate come from C6te d’Ivoire, where children and forced laborers wield dangerous tools, transport heavy loads, and face exposure to toxic substances. Children often arrive at these Ivoirian farms having been sold to, or kidnapped by, traffickers. The working conditions on the farms are deplorable. Laborers often do not receive pay, sleep in locked quarters, and fear corporal punishment.

American and international organizations have identified and documented these abuses extensively. Mars and many other chocolate manufacturers have acknowledged that their products may contain cocoa harvested by children. Indeed, in 2001, Mars signed an agreement with other chocolate manufacturers to develop and to implement certification procedures to eradicate the worst forms of child labor on cocoa farms. The group hoped to achieve this goal by 2005, but to date, Mars and . the other signatories have not been able to establish such a system. Mars twice acknowledged its failure to achieve a certification system and asserts that, by 2020, it hopes to purchase all cocoa from certified sources. According to the most recent reports, the number of children working on cocoa farms has increased since 2005. As of 2014, “[o]nly 36% of [Mars’s] cocoa was certified.” Compl. ¶ 29.

No information about the Ivoirian cocoa farms’ labor practices in Mars’s supply chain appears on the labels or advertisements for most of Mars’s chocolate products, such as M&M’s, Snickers, and Milky Way bars. In contrast, the label for Dove chocolates — another Mars chocolate product — states, “We buy cocoa from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms, traceable from the farms into our factory.” Compl. ¶47. Hodsdon avers that he “would not have purchased” or “paid as much for” Mars chocolate products had the labels included information about the labor practices of Mars’s cocoa suppliers. Compl. ¶ 80. He insists that Mars was obligated to include information about the source of its cocoa beans because consumers, like him, are willing to pay more for ethically sourced chocolate. See Compl. ¶¶ 55-58 (citing studies).

[1021]*1021III. LEGAL STANDARD

A pleading that states a claim for relief must contain... a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief....” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). “[Detailed factual allegations are not required,” but a complaint must provide sufficient factual allegations to “state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). In addition, “in allegations of fraud or mistake, a party must state with particularity the circumstances constituting fraud and mistake.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b). To satisfy this requirement, a plaintiff must plead “the who, what, when, where, and how that would suggest fraud.” Cooper v. Pickett, 137 F.3d 616, 627 (9th Cir.1997) (internal quotation marks omitted). “A plaintiff must set forth more than the neutral facts necessary to identify the transaction. The plaintiff must set forth what is false or misleading about a statement, and why it is false.” Vess v. Ciba-Geigy Carp. USA, 317 F.3d 1097, 1106 (9th Cir.2003) (internal quotation marks and alteration omitted).

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) provides a mechanism to test the legal sufficiency of the averments in the complaint. Dismissal is appropriate when the complaint “fail[s] to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). A complaint in whole or in part is subject to dismissal if it lacks a cognizable legal theory or the complaint does not include sufficient facts to support a plausible claim under a cognizable legal theory. Navarro v. Block, 250 F.3d 729, 732 (9th Cir.2001). When evaluating a complaint, the court must accept all its material allegations as true and construe them in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

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Bluebook (online)
162 F. Supp. 3d 1016, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19268, 2016 WL 627383, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hodsdon-v-mars-inc-cand-2016.