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A federal judge in California has certified a Class of Keurig K-Cup buyers who allege that Keurig Green Mountain falsely labels its pods as recyclable.
U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. found that the case met all requirements needed in order for a Class to be established.
The certified Class includes anyone who purchased the products for personal, family or household use in California from June 8, 2016, through the present.
In her 2018 class action lawsuit, lead plaintiff Kathleen Smith alleges that the “green” version of Keurig K-Cups aren’t recyclable because they’re so small, even though the product labeling says they can be recycled.
Smith says most municipal recycling facilities can’t recycle plastic the size of Keurig K-Cups, meaning they go to landfills.
In the class action lawsuit, Smith said had she known the K-Cups were not recyclable, she would not have purchased them and would have sought out different single-serve coffee pods or other coffee products that were compostable, recyclable or reusable.
Smith originally filed her Keurig K-Cups class action lawsuit in California Superior Court; the case was removed to federal court in November 2018.
Keurig initially argued the class action lawsuit should be dismissed, saying Smith hadn’t demonstrated reasonable customers would be misled by the company’s advertisements that the coffee pods could be recycled. They argued most consumers would realize Keurig K-Cups are not recyclable everywhere, despite the ads.
But Judge Gilliam determined last year the case could move forward.
Keurig’s motion to dismiss the case was denied after the Court determined Smith had “standing to and sufficiently alleged injury-in-fact, causation, and redressability,” Judge Gilliam wrote in granting Class certification. “The Court further rejected Keurig’s argument that there was no risk of future deception of Plaintiff.”
In arguing the case should not be certified as a class action lawsuit, Keurig Green Mountain claimed the plaintiff had failed to meet the requirements because the “claims or defenses of the representative parties” were not typical and that the plaintiff lacked standing “and the proposed relief is not indivisible.” The company also claimed the Class definition was too broad.
In his certification of the Class, Judge Gilliam first addressed Keurig’s assertion that the plaintiff had not read the recycling label on the Keurig K-Cups package she bought online.
“Contrary to Keurig’s characterization of Plaintiff’s deposition testimony, Plaintiff did not testify that she did not read the recyclability labels,” Judge Gilliam wrote. “She testified instead that she did not see the ‘Check Locally’ asterisk on the ‘Peel, Empty, Recycle’ label until after the suit was filed.”
The judge said what mattered was that Smith “was aware of Keurig’s representations that the Products were recyclable” and purchased the Keurig K-Cups several times, believing they were recyclable due to the packaging.
“The fact that Plaintiff did not notice the qualification to Keurig’s recyclability representation does not show that her claims are not typical.”
Similarly, Keurig argued Smith failed to meet the adequacy requirement because she “never read” the labels and “never checked” to see if the Keurig K-Cups were recyclable locally.
“For the same reasons noted above, Keurig’s arguments fail,” Judge Gilliam wrote.
Keurig had argued Smith lacked standing because the company added “qualifying language that comports” with the Federal Trade Commission’s recommendations, and since she is now fully informed that the Keurig K-Cups aren’t always recyclable, she doesn’t risk future injury.
However, Judge Gilliam wrote, because it’s plausible the company could make Keurig K-Cups recyclable without changing their size, if recycling technology evolves, the plaintiff has standing in seeking injunctive relief.
The judge again sided with the plaintiff over Keurig’s argument that the injunctive relief is not indivisible.
“Again, Keurig fails to take Plaintiff’s theory of this case into account,” Judge Gilliam wrote. “It is not individual community recycling facilities’ ability to collect the Products that is at issue. Instead, Plaintiff alleges that the Products are not recyclable in a substantial majority of communities in which they are sold such that Keurig’s representation is misleading.”
Smith’s class action lawsuit alleges Keurig Green Mountain is in breach of express warranty and has violated the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act and California’s Unfair Competition Law and has become unjustly enriched.
A case management conference in the Keurig class action lawsuit has been set for Oct. 13.
Have you purchased Keurig K-Cups believing they were recyclable? Tell us your experience in the comments.
The plaintiff is represented by Howard Hirsch and Ryan Berghoff of Lexington Law Group.
The Keurig K-Cups False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Kathleen Smith v. Keurig Green Mountain, Case No. 4:18-cv-06690-HSG, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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415 thoughts onKeurig K-Cups Recyclable Class Action Lawsuit Gets Certified
Please add
Please add me
add me
Add me
Me too, but I’m not a citizen of California. :-(
In 2019, (obviously not 2029 ppl) typo.
In 2019, 1.5 million ppl died from TB. Where was the media coverage on THAT “pandemic” to something much more serious than ‘CO VID’. Drs in many countries are leaving practices they’ve spent decades building bc the Pharma industry is threatening them all to ‘keep writing those ‘CO VID’ death certificates.
It’s not rocket science people. Just like, I could state anything I want.
Btw, the proof for the Drs leaving their practices due to threats, pushing things on them + even threatening their families…
Go to Reddit and the sub Reddit ‘CALGARY’, scroll down to where you see a sheet of paper!
There’s your proof.
There’ll be MANY more to come as well.
Keep your eyes peeled.
‘They’re (your gov) is chalking everything up to ‘fake NEWS’ even tho THEY are the 1’s dishing out all this fake data, (I personally have 5 months worth of newspapers + headlines, which never changed nor grew, (hmmm) in ALL the time this ‘CO VID’ program is running.
A pen to paper is what changed millions of EQUAL HUMANS from being used as slaves- to being free to live as they please though they made it difficult, they climbed the ropes and beat the odds!
Every human, every being, (sorry but animals are ALL ABOVE humans- what happens when all the bees are gone? Oh that’s right, synthetic foods.. I also have proof of ‘synthetic corn’ being planted in MY area. Next yr, it won’t be happening as My neighbors, a few others in the community + beyond, have assembled to rid these fields of their test tube foods!) Farmers might wanna learn real quick. MY kids won’t be eating that garbage as they don’t eat any oats (or foods) that Mom hasn’t grown herself.
Sooo…
Do you always whine about crap ? that has absolutely nothing about the subject concerned? Is your name KAREN & did you speak to the manager?
EVERYONE reading this, please go buy the reusable k-pods that you dump coffee grounds into the garbage and then simply reuse the heavy duty plastic pod that, STILL, fits into your Keurig.
They want to play games with loopholes, YET AGAIN- (nothing new as Companies + Gov alike, has LOOONG BEEN allowing nonsense + shenanigans like this to go on for DECADES!
Most people just don’t understand the repercussions and they AUTOMATICALLY trust & believe every word the Company’s “claim”, “Well, they ‘claim’ it’s recyclable. So it MUST be recyclable!”…
Because God Forbid, they’d NEVER ever lie, right?!
Haven’t ya’ll learned your lessons from watching all those, “This medication has carcinogens contained in them and have been pulled from X store, Y store and Z store. Many of whom took these unsafe drugs have reported they now have CANCERS of several kinds! ”
What’s NOT to get.
Your Gov, nor the Companies give a rats a$s about any 1 of us, nor their own family members for that matter.
Everything’s chalked up to, “well it’s for the Good of the country, for things to happen this way.”
Aka, they mean, the good of their pockets and nothing else.
I’ve already been targeted in ways that would spin your head. I have gone to those higher up, supervisors, appellate courts, Supreme Court’s and nothing is done. I’ve also watched all the hypocritical 3 ring circus ya’ll consider your “home” since the early 90’s. And it’s sad to admit, that by the age of 9, I had disciplined myself to not rely on the Gov for anything anymore. MY children, (I can’t speak for yours) DESERVE food security, freedom from being locked down in a rat race, (which is why my son already has a whopping 4 Million subscribers on YouTube, BANKS (HIS money) monthly and is NOW learning to invest in his friends and the younger generations to teach them, just what I taught him!
If / SINCE ‘they’ can’t learn to be honest with consumers, (which they never will & even if they ‘tried’ they’d still have Gov, & DOJ backing them to keep people quiet about things, just as Keurig didn’t want the case to go public by bringing it to an actual case!
(Get the hint yet!?!)
That said, this ‘CO VID’ programs lockdown, SHOULD have been used wisely, to help Gaia, aid Gaia and to find ways to do things differently without wasting so much.
IE. Stop buying the ‘LAZY’ servings of things, JUST so you can stick it in your purse- women are notorious for NEEDING to have small proportions of things- I’m a woman and found this habit difficult to break as a kid.. Ya’ll might wanna start yesterday.
I watched an episode of the windmills being put into the ocean by these ocean floor machines that were getting wrapped up in all the 8 FEETof plastic and garbage debris…
How’s THATmake you feel?
How do you think most of the world’s Coral reefs are being killed off-besides the natives using ammonium blasters to kill fish when they’re close to the reefs?
Start buying the heavy duty reusable kcup pods you should be able to find them in EVERY coffee isle in Walmart across the country.
Or, if Amazon, (ordering online & furthering this ‘isolated & cashless society’, which is exactly what Ms. Elise Stefonak is trying to do, “I endorse this message” showing a. 05 sec clip of the ‘cashless bail reform’ which she also supports. (Aka A murderer can get out of jail with just his word and not a dime down on any bail money, putting any homes up for the bail, etc
Oooh, yes. THAT’S how much ‘THEY’ don’t give a rats rear end about you, YOUR safety, your children’s safety, etc. They only care about keeping the funds moving & swirling throughout their system and into their pockets.
Go search, ‘how much more does a congressmen use / waste in emissions than any citizen”… It’ll blow your mind.
This also goes for all your ‘FAVE celebs’ as well.
Start using your brain, to critically think about what the (owned by 6 corporations- GLOBALLY) news +media publish, show or tell you.
That’s where you start.
2nd, begin growing your own food!
I live in Northern NORTHERN America where Winter is almost 5 & 1/2months… And I’ve grown all my foods and veggies inside for the last 5 yrs no problems. Windowsills are your best friends when it comes to winter growing.
Cut them off at the source. Support your local, not for profit co-op and bring your kids in with you. They’ll get a kick and most everyone there will start answering your kids 1,001 questions about the foods while you shop so you can concentrate.
Cut off their demand and supply yourself & your family.
Your children will have knowledge of growing to share with their kids & grandkids.
Where these 2 new generations are headed, they can’t cook a box of Mac n cheese without burning the water, let alone fully cook a pack of ramen in the microwave. Hot pockets & take out is ALL they’re eating because parents are getting LAZY!
Don’t worry, you’ll provide Pharma with PLENTY of dough in the next 5-7 yrs, well, with ya’ll bending over & wearing these masks and all.
I’ve personally hand delivered, with NO MASK, for the last 3 yrs, newspapers printed & shipped out from the ‘Epicenter of “CO VID'” alongside my fiance who was born with 1/2 sized lungs & 1/2 sized heart, working next to 80 or so other men + women, (none of which wear masks bc we ALL KNOW it’s a load of crock) and we ALL meet at a warehouse that collects newspapers from 4 surrounding states with 6 other warehouses (none of them have worn masks and NOT A SOUL. has missed more than a day of work!
Yah can’t FACT CHECK my life, either there Karen’s. The proof is in the puddin’when I live with THE HIGHEST risk person and yet… Where IS this virus.
The biggest social experiment the World has ever seen.
In 2029, 1.5 MILLION people died from Tuberculosis. Why wasn’t anyone told to wear a mask THEN?
I’ll tell you why, it wasn’t ‘convenient timing’. Some of you had better wake up before Gaia is shakin’ her isn’t, causing total destruction just like Atlantis.
Atlantis was destroyed, (anything that remained) so once we got to the advancements were at today, no one would protest or put up a fight.
Ya’ll sheeple just keep going along with it.
Oh and when America decides to start charging citizens to use Facebook + Instagram, (Governments all over the world have already started charging to use it.. Lebanon + Syria for example. Go check Yahoo + Duck duck go for the research as Google wont give you the TRUTH.
.. don’t go crying to anyone about it.
I don’t use that garbage anyhow so it won’t affect me none.
(Simply came to get a PDF I needed for a Lawsuit and saw this article and had to know what was going on. See if I need to return, CHUCK, my machine at the Keurig building. (I’d be the 1 to do it too!) I only paid $10 for my latte / coffee Keurig machine at Walmart for misleading prices and stockers mis-pricing them.
I got it then they changed it AFTER 6-7 others also watched + heard me bitching + what I was going to do.
Yatta, yatta, yatta, drivel, blah, blah, blah…
Do you always whine about crap ? that has absolutely nothing about the subject concerned? Is your name KAREN & did you speak to the manager?
bought 200 boxes add me
Add me please I bought four boxes a month ago
I’m like the rest I thought they were recyclable . Plezz add me.