Mike And Ike, Hot Tamales Class Action Lawsuit Gets Certified

On Monday, a California federal judge gave Class certification to consumers who claim that Just Born Inc. candy makers under fill boxes of their famous Hot Tamales and Mike and Ike candies.

U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. certified the Class of individuals who purchased 5-ounce boxes of Mike and Ikes and Hot Tamales after Feb. 3, 2013.

According to Judge Hatter, the consumers had effectively demonstrated that they could make a common claim about the alleged nonfunctional space in the candy boxes, and had shown that there were enough affected consumers to form a Class.

Plaintiff Stephanie Escobar filed the Mike and Ike class action lawsuit in February 2017. She says she purchased a box of Mike and Ikes from a movie theatre in Los Angeles.

The Mike and Ike class action claims that Escobar paid $4 for the box, and only after she purchased it did she discover that the box was half full of candy.

Escobar says she could not check how full the box was before purchasing it because it was behind a glass case. She argues that because of this, she had to rely on the size of the candy box to interpret how much candy was in there.

According to the Hot Tamales class action, the box was 46 percent empty, and the empty space serves no functional purpose, so Just Born’s inclusion of that space violates California law.

She is seeking compensation on behalf of herself and all similarly affected consumers.

The Mike and Ike class action also requests that the candy company be required to stop deceiving customers about how much candy they are receiving in a box.

Asserting that her experience is representative of many consumers’ experience purchasing Mike and Ikes and Hot Tamales, the motion states that “if [Escobar] proves that one unit of a 5-oz. box of Mike and Ikes contains nonfunctional slack-fill, then that will be true of every 5-oz. box of Mike and Ike.”

“If plaintiff proves that the empty space in the products is nonfunctional, then the packaging is misleading as a matter of law,” the motion continued.

Escobar argues that to be in accordance with California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act, False Adverting Law, and Unfair Competition Law, Just Born should package their candies in boxes that reflect the amount of candy in the box — either by making the boxes smaller, putting more candy in the larger boxes, or somehow alerting consumers to the fact that the box is only half full.

Just Born attempted to oppose Class certification, saying that Escobar’s experience could not be taken as representative for many consumers’ experience.

To support this argument, the company cited a survey of people who purchased Mike and Ikes and Hot Tamales. Allegedly, 80 percent of the people surveyed said that they received exactly the amount of candy that they expected to receive in a box of movie theatre candy.

Escobar is represented by Ryan J. Clarkson, Shireen M. Clarkson and Bahar Sodaify of Clarkson Law Firm PC.

The Mike and Ike, Hot Tamales Packaging Class Action Lawsuit is Stephanie Escobar v. Just Born Inc., Case No. 2:17-cv-01826, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

UPDATE: On July 19, 2019, a federal court judge reconsidered a March 2019 ruling, stating that he ruled in error when he granted Class certification to consumers who sued Just Born Inc. for underfilling boxes of their Hot Tamales and Mike and Ike candies.

UPDATE 2: August 2020, the Mike and Ike, Hot Tamales class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.