Kommer v. Bayer Consumer Health

252 F. Supp. 3d 304, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84671
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMay 18, 2017
Docket16 Civ. 1560 (DAB)
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 252 F. Supp. 3d 304 (Kommer v. Bayer Consumer Health) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kommer v. Bayer Consumer Health, 252 F. Supp. 3d 304, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84671 (S.D.N.Y. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

DEBORAH A. BATTS, United States District Judge.

Plaintiff James Kommer (“Plaintiff’) brings this putative class action against Bayer Consumer Health, Bayer Consumer Care Holdings LLC, Bayer Healthcare LLC, Bayer Corporation, and MSD Consumer Care Inc. (collectively, “Defendants”), alleging violations of New York General Business Law (“GBL”) §§ 349 & 350. Defendants move to dismiss the action for failure to state a claim under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) and for lack of standing under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1). For the reasons discussed herein, Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED.

I. Background

Unless otherwise noted, the following facts are taken from the Amended Complaint and assumed to be true for purposes of this Motion.

Defendants are in charge of manufacturing, marketing, distributing and selling Dr. Scholl’s foot care products, including the [306]*306Dr. Scholl’s Custom Fit Orthotics Inserts (the “Inserts”) at issue in this case. (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 18-27.) Defendants market and distribute this product throughout the United States, including in the State of New York, (Id.)

The Inserts are sold nationwide at various pharmacies and retailers. (Id. ¶ 32.) In many stores, they are marketed and sold alongside a point-of-sale kiosk, the Dr. Scholl’s Custom Fit Orthotics Foot Mapping Kiosk (the “Kiosk”), which is placed by Defendants in the retail store. (Id. ¶¶ 5, 33.) The Kiosk features a platform for customers to stand' on and a computer monitor, at top. (Id. ¶33.) The instructions on the Kiosk (the “Kiosk Instructions”) direct customers to remove their shoes, step onto the Kiosk platform, and touch the screen to begin; within about two minutes, the system maps the user’s data and recommends the best Insert model for the user’s feet. (Id. ¶34.) Fourteen different models of pre-fabricated, pre-packaged Inserts are stacked on shelves on the side of the Kiosk, and the Kiosk is programmed to always recommend one of the models to the user. (Id. ¶¶ 34, 36.)

The Dr. Scholl’s website includes the following description of the Kiosk’s function:

The Dr. Scholl’s Custom Fit Kiosk uses Foot Mapping technology to gather different measurements of your feet and recommend the Custom Fit Orthotic Inserts that are right for you.
How does it work?
It uses 2,000 pressure sensors to create your unique Foot Map
What does it measure?
Your arch type, foot length and pressure points
Why should I try it?
It’s easy to use and only takes a few minutes.

(Id. ¶ 33.) The Complaint alleges that the arch measurements given by the Kiosk are imprecise, because different Kiosks may display different results for the same individual, depending on the individual’s weight and stance while standing on the machine. (Id. ¶ 35.) Further, the Complaint alleges, while arch index “may be one of many factors, that could be. considered in prescribing an effective orthotic device, relying on this one factor alone is not. sufficient to properly ... prescribe a custom fit orthotic.” (Id.)

Plaintiff is a resident of .Saratoga County, New York, who experiences foot pain. (Id,' ¶ 13.) In 2011, Plaintiff discussed his symptoms with a chiropractor, who performed a physical examination on Plaintiff and recommended that Plaintiff be fitted for custom orthotics. (Id.) Plaintiff followed this-advice and.was fitted for custom or-thotics, which cost him approximately $333. (Id)

In 2014, Plaintiff, in search of a second pair of orthotics, used the Kiosk in a Wal-mart store in Saratoga Springs, New York. (Id. ¶14.) The Kiosk recommended that Plaintiff buy one of the Insert models. (Id.) Plaintiff tried the foot-mapping process a few’ times, and each time the Kiosk recommended the same model, (Id.) Plaintiff ended up buying the recommended Inserts for $50 — a price higher, the Complaint alleges, than other, similar inserts, • which sell for about $10 at retail. (Jd. ¶¶ 15, 38.)

Plaintiff alleges that he bought the Inserts based on the representations made on the in-store Kiosk, .on the Inserts’ labels, and in Defendants’ television commercials for the Inserts (the content of which is not described in the Complaint). (Id. ¶17.) According to Plaintiff, Defendants’ marketing led him to believe that the “products he purchased were actually custom fit orthotic inserts individually designed for each of his feet,”- instead of “standardized, mass produced over-the-counter shoe inserts.” (Id.) Plaintiff alleges [307]*307that, had he “known the truth,” he would not have purchased the products. (Id.) After using the Inserts for several months, Plaintiffs foot pain allegedly increased; whereas with his prescribed orthotics, Plaintiff experienced relief. (Id. ¶ 16.)

In the instant action, Plaintiff seeks to represent a class of consumers similarly harmed by Defendants’ allegedly deceptive business practices in marketing and selling the Inserts. (Id. ¶ 46.) The allegations regarding the deceptive nature of Defendants’ marketing appear to be two-fold: (1) that it misleads consumers into believing that the Inserts are “functionally equivalent” to orthotics fitted and prescribed by a medical professional, Id. ¶ 30; and (2) that it misleads customers into believing that the Inserts are individualized to a consumer’s “unique physical characteristics,” and not simply “generic, prefabricated, mass-produced, over-the-counter shoe inserts.” (Id, ¶¶ 37, 64.) The specific acts alleged to be misleading include the use of “Custom Fit Orthotic” in the product name, see ki ¶ 36, the Kiosk’s use of “pseudo-technology,” id, ¶ 35, and the use of designations “such as ‘CF440’ ” on the Insert models — designations which Plaintiff claims are not found on other Dr. Scholl’s products, and which “suggest a level of precision and exactitude that is not present in the product.” (Id. ¶ 38.) Plaintiff brings claims under GBL §§ 349 and 350, and seeks damages and an injunction. (Id ¶¶ 54-67.)

II. Discussion

1. Legal Standard

For a complaint to survive a motion brought pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), the plaintiff must have pleaded “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). “A claim has facial plausibility,” the Supreme Court explained,

[W]hen the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged. The plausibility standard is not akin to a “probability requirement,” but it asks for more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully. Where a complaint pleads facts that are “merely consistent with” a defendant’s liability, it “stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility of ‘entitlement to relief.’ ” .

Ashcroft v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
252 F. Supp. 3d 304, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84671, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kommer-v-bayer-consumer-health-nysd-2017.