Patane v. Nestlé Waters N. Am., Inc.

369 F. Supp. 3d 382
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedMarch 28, 2019
DocketNo. 3:17-cv-01381 (JAM)
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 369 F. Supp. 3d 382 (Patane v. Nestlé Waters N. Am., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Patane v. Nestlé Waters N. Am., Inc., 369 F. Supp. 3d 382 (D. Conn. 2019).

Opinion

Jeffrey Alker Meyer, United States District Judge

Plaintiffs have filed this class action lawsuit alleging that defendant Nestlé Waters North America, Inc. fraudulently markets its Poland Spring water products as *386"spring water" when in fact it is not "spring water" as defined by law. Last year I dismissed the initial complaint without prejudice on the ground that its state law causes of action were all preempted by the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). See Patane v. Nestlé Waters N. Am., Inc. , 314 F.Supp.3d 375 (D. Conn. 2018).

Plaintiffs have now re-framed their claims and filed an amended complaint that seeks class action relief for consumers under the laws of nine different States. Nestlé in turn has moved to dismiss the amended complaint on multiple grounds.

I will grant in part and deny in part Nestlé's motion to dismiss. First, I decline to abstain on grounds of Burford abstention or under the doctrine of primary jurisdiction. Second, I conclude that plaintiffs' state law claims are not preempted except for their Vermont law claims. Third, I decline to rule at this time on Nestlé's "safe harbor" defense against the statutory claims because the record is not yet sufficient to determine the facts necessary to resolve this claim. Lastly, I decline on similar grounds to dismiss the common law fraud and contract claims.

BACKGROUND

The amended complaint (Doc. # 160) alleges state law claims on behalf of consumers in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It alleges common law causes of action for fraud and for breach of contract as well as statutory causes of action for consumer fraud and unfair trade practices.1 It seeks damages for alleged misconduct dating back to 2003 as well as prospective injunctive relief.

All of plaintiffs' claims are based on a core of allegations that Nestlé has fraudulently labeled its Poland Spring water products as "100% Natural Spring Water" while knowing that the product is not "spring water" as that term is defined by law. Doc. # 160 at 39 (¶ 101). According to plaintiffs, the multiple sites in Maine where Nestlé obtains Poland Spring water and that are identified by name on Poland Spring labels are not natural springs. Ibid. (¶ 102).2 Plaintiffs allege that Nestlé has unlawfully profited from its misleading marketing of Poland Spring water because consumers are willing to pay a premium price for "spring water" over other forms of bottled water.

*387As I discussed at length in my prior ruling granting Nestlé's motion to dismiss, the FDCA establishes basic definitions (known as "standards of identity") for food products and prohibits the false labeling of such food products. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has promulgated a detailed regulatory definition of "spring water" that distinguishes it from other kinds of bottled water that may be marketed for public sale. See 21 C.F.R. § 165.110(a)(2)(vi).

According to the FDA's regulation, if a water product is to be labeled and sold as "spring water," the water must be "derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the surface of the earth," and there must be a "natural force causing the water to flow to the surface through a natural orifice." Ibid. The FDA's regulation further provides that "spring water" can be "collected only at the spring or through a bore hole tapping the underground formation feeding the spring," and that if it is collected "with the use of an external force," the water must be "from the same underground stratum as the spring, as shown by a measurable hydraulic connection using a hydrogeologically valid method between the bore hole and the natural spring, and shall have all the physical properties, before treatment, and be of the same composition and quality, as the water that flows naturally to the surface of the earth." Ibid.

Following the filing of the amended complaint, Nestlé has again moved to dismiss on multiple grounds pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6).

DISCUSSION

The standard that governs motions to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(1) and Rule 12(b)(6) is well established. A complaint may not survive unless it alleges facts that, taken as true, give rise to plausible grounds to sustain the Court's subject matter jurisdiction and to sustain plaintiffs' claims for relief. See, e.g., Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) ; Kim v. Kimm , 884 F.3d 98, 103 (2d Cir. 2018) ; Lapaglia v. Transamerica Cas. Ins. Co. , 155 F.Supp.3d 153, 155-56 (D. Conn. 2016).

Burford abstention

Nestlé argues that the Court should dismiss this action pursuant to the doctrine known as Burford abstention. See Burford v. Sun Oil Co. , 319 U.S. 315, 63 S.Ct. 1098, 87 L.Ed. 1424 (1943). Burford abstention applies "only in extraordinary circumstances" and where a case "presents difficult questions of state law bearing on policy problems of substantial public import whose importance transcends the result in the case then at bar, or if its adjudication in a federal forum would be disruptive of state efforts to establish a coherent policy with respect to a matter of substantial public concern." Quackenbush v. Allstate Ins. Co. ,

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369 F. Supp. 3d 382, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/patane-v-nestle-waters-n-am-inc-ctd-2019.