Wach v. Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedMay 19, 2022
Docket1:21-cv-02191
StatusUnknown

This text of Wach v. Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc. (Wach v. Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wach v. Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc., (N.D. Ill. 2022).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION

Kelly Wach, Bryan Bor and ) Leroy Jacobs, individually and ) on behalf of all others ) similarly situated, ) ) Plaintiffs, ) v. ) No. 21 C 2191 ) Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc., ) ) Defendant. )

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER In this putative class action, plaintiffs Kelly Wach, Bryan Bor, and Leroy Jacobs sue defendant Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc., for what they claim are false, deceptive, and misleading statements on the label of defendant’s “Premium Vanilla” ice cream. Defendant moves to dismiss the complaint in its entirety. For the following reasons, I grant the motion. I. For purposes of this motion, I accept the factual allegations in the First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) as true and draw all permissible inferences in favor of plaintiffs. Marion Diagnostic Ctr., LLC v. Becton Dickinson & Co., 29 F.4th 337, 349 (7th Cir. 2022) (citation omitted). Prairie Farms Dairy manufactures, markets, labels, and sells “Premium Vanilla” ice cream (the “Product”) purportedly flavored with “natural vanilla flavorings.” FAC 77 1, 26. Plaintiffs allege that the Product label’s “Premium Vanilla,” “Natural Ingredients,” and “Natural...Flavors” designations are misleading because the Product contains only a negligible amount of extract from vanilla beans and derives its vanilla flavor from artificial flavorings. Id. @ 36 (“The ‘Natural Flavor’ contains a trace or de minimis amount of vanilla, but mainly gets its vanilla taste from vanillin from non-vanilla sources, considered an artificial flavor in the context of ice cream.”). In the FAC, plaintiffs include images of the Product labeling, which are reproduced below. Id. FI 18-19.

TS tee ee oR

| f RM a □ _— ew SS ae | Prairie ‘a Farms preMium @ 2m" ve

Made with —— Ice Cream —=>—-_ = ae _ Local AS all) Milk § Cream PA Bese) Ly, We onl & =D Wik fea Natural ¥ & R., pirat egal Ingredients ayy Ae i 1.5 QUARTS (1.41 na LE fs Bae te □□ Sas ,

(GLUTEN FREE NO HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP NATURAL COLORS AND FLAVORS

According to the FAC, consumers desire products made with “real” vanilla. See id. ¶ 11 (“Demand for real vanilla has been steadily increasing.” (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)). Based on the phrases “Premium Vanilla” and “Natural Flavors” on the Product’s label, plaintiffs “expected the Product

to have a non-negligible amount of extracts from vanilla beans.” Id. ¶ 80. They maintain that they “would not have purchased the Product in the absence of Defendant’s misrepresentations and omissions.” Id. ¶ 81. Plaintiffs assert the following claims on behalf of themselves and three putative classes: (1) violation of Wis. Stat. § 100.20;1 (2) violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (“ICFA”), 815 ILCS 505/1, et seq.; (3) violations of other states’ consumer fraud acts; (4) breach of express and implied warranties; (5) violation of the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act (“MMWA”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 2301, et seq.; (6) negligent misrepresentation; (7) common law fraud; and (8) unjust enrichment. FAC ¶¶ 93–136. Plaintiffs seek monetary damages

and injunctive relief. I have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(2). II.

1 As the court in Tropp v. Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc. observed, although “[t]he parties refer to this statute as the ‘Unfair Trade Practices Act,...neither the statute itself nor case law construing it have given the statute that name.” No. 20-cv-1035- jdp, 2021 WL 5416639, at *2 (W.D. Wis. Nov. 19, 2021). Accordingly, I will refer to the statute by its number. “To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). “A claim is facially plausible ‘when the

plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.’” Law Offs. of David Freydin, P.C. v. Chamara, 24 F.4th 1122, 1128 (7th Cir. 2022) (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678). I “accept well-pleaded facts as true and draw all reasonable inferences in the plaintiff’s favor,” Shipley v. Chi. Bd. of Election Comm’rs, 947 F.3d 1056, 1060–61 (7th Cir. 2020) (citation omitted), but I am “not bound to accept legal conclusions as true,” Burger v. Cnty. of Macon, 942 F.3d 372, 374 (7th Cir. 2019) (citing Iqbal, 566 U.S. at 678). Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b) requires a party alleging fraud to “state with particularity the circumstances constituting

fraud.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b). “The plaintiff must describe the ‘who, what, when, where, and how’ of the fraud—‘the first paragraph of any newspaper story.’” United States ex rel. Berkowitz v. Automation Aids, Inc., 896 F.3d 834, 839 (7th Cir. 2018) (quoting United States ex rel. Lusby v. Rolls-Royce Corp., 570 F.3d 849, 853 (7th Cir. 2009)). III. I begin with plaintiffs’ claim under Wisconsin’s consumer fraud statute, Wis. Stat. § 100.20, which requires little comment, as plaintiffs fail to respond to defendant’s arguments for its dismissal. See Boogaard v. Nat’l Hockey League, 891 F.3d 289, 295 (7th Cir. 2018) (“[A] district court may hold a claim forfeited if

a plaintiff fails to respond to the substance of the defendant’s motion to dismiss.” (citing Kirksey v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 168 F.3d 1039, 1043 (7th Cir. 1999); Stransky v. Cummins Engine Co., 51 F.3d 1329, 1335 (7th Cir. 1995)). In view of plaintiffs’ silence, summary dismissal of their Wis. Stat. § 100.20 claim is appropriate. IV. Next, I turn to plaintiffs’ ICFA claim. To state a claim under ICFA, plaintiffs must allege with particularity: (1) a deceptive act or practice by defendant; (2) defendant’s intent that plaintiffs rely on the deceptive act; (3) that the deceptive act occurred during a course of conduct involving trade or commerce;

and (4) actual damage as a result of the deceptive act. Haywood v.

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Related

Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
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United States Ex Rel. Lusby v. Rolls-Royce Corp.
570 F.3d 849 (Seventh Circuit, 2009)
People Ex Rel. Hartigan v. Knecht Services, Inc.
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887 F.3d 329 (Seventh Circuit, 2018)
Len Boogaard v. National Hockey League
891 F.3d 289 (Seventh Circuit, 2018)
Amanda Burger v. County of Macon
942 F.3d 372 (Seventh Circuit, 2019)
Clarisha Benson v. Fannie May Confections Brands
944 F.3d 639 (Seventh Circuit, 2019)
William B. Shipley v. Chicago Board of Elections
947 F.3d 1056 (Seventh Circuit, 2020)
Jennifer Beardsall v. CVS Pharmacy, Incorporated
953 F.3d 969 (Seventh Circuit, 2020)
Law Offices of David Freyd v. Victoria Chamara
24 F.4th 1122 (Seventh Circuit, 2022)
Stransky v. Cummins Engine Co.
51 F.3d 1329 (Seventh Circuit, 1995)
Ibarrola v. Kind, LLC
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Wach v. Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wach-v-prairie-farms-dairy-inc-ilnd-2022.