Judge Dismisses Class Action Lawsuit Over Jim Beam Labeling

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U.S. District Judge Larry Alan Burns dismissed a proposed Jim Beam mislabeling class action lawsuit last Friday. Scott Welk, the lead plaintiff in the class action lawsuit, will not be able to continue in litigation against the alcohol manufacturer.

Jim Beam Brands and Beam Suntory Import, collectively known as “Jim Beam,” use the word “handcrafted” on their bottles of bourbon. Welk brought a class action lawsuit against Jim Beam alleging the labels are misleading because the alcohol is not actually crafted by hand.

Welk explained in his Jim Beam class action lawsuit that as a result of viewing the label, he believed the bourbon was of superior quality since it was crafted by hand and not machine. He claimed that he paid a higher price for the product believing it was created by skilled craftsmen.

Welk argued that the reasonable consumer would believe that the product was actually distilled by hand, as many high quality manufacturers refer to their superior products as being created by hand and charge a premium on such products.

According to the class action lawsuit, Welk found out that the products were not actually made by hand by viewing videos on Jim Beam’s website that showed the manufacturing process for the bourbon in question. He found that the process is almost completely automated and is created in an assembly line fashion.

The proposed Jim Beam class action lawsuit sought to prohibit the company from referring to its bourbon as “handcrafted” and also aimed to force Jim Beam to disclose the way the product was manufactured.

Jim Beam argued that the that Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) had already reviewed the labels and did not determine that they were false or misleading, and approved them as they were initially presented. Jim Beam believed their company would be covered under California’s Safe Harbor Doctrine since they had preciously complied with federal labeling laws. The company moved to dismiss the class action lawsuit under the safe harbor doctrine, and the motion was denied because the TTB does not investigate into the truthfulness of the claims of the label as being “handcrafted.”

Jim Beam also felt that the labels should be protected from the allegations according to California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL) and False Advertising Law (FLA) which prohibit fraudulent and misleading business practices. Judge Burns ruled that Welk’s claims of misrepresentations in the Jim Beam class action lawsuit were not supported since it was basically common knowledge that automated machines have always been needed to make bourbon.

In multiple ways, the Court found that Jim Beam’s use of the term “handcrafted” would not mislead a reasonable consumer to actually believe the product was crafted by hand.

Judge Burns dismissed the Jim Beam class action lawsuit fully, adding that no amendment to the lawsuit would serve to further support Welk’s allegations.

Welk is represented by Abbas Kazerounian and Mona Amini of Kazerouni Law Group APC and by Joshua B. Swigart of Hyde & Swigart.

The Jim Beam Mislabeling Class Action Lawsuit is Scott Welk v. Beam Suntory Import Co., et al., Case No. 3:15-cv-00328, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.