Traeger Wants Wood Pellets Class Action Dismissed

Traeger Pellet Grills LLC has asked a judge to dismiss a class action lawsuit claiming that the company misrepresents its wood pellets as expensive mesquite grilling woods when in reality, they are 100 percent alder or oak with mesquite oil flavoring added.

Traeger has asked Judge Bruce S. Jenkins of the District of Utah to dismiss the class action claims, saying that the customers have not established that they have a right to monetary relief.

Additionally, the company says that the plaintiffs have not shown that their claims are appropriate for a nationwide class action lawsuit.

Traeger argues that the customers have not shown any facts that entitle them to monetary relief, considering that Utah law does not allow plaintiffs to seek statutory damages in class action lawsuits.

Additionally, Traeger states that the customers cannot claim actual damages under Utah law nor can they claim actual damages and restitution under California law. Both laws reportedly require plaintiffs to show that they paid more than the actual market value, which Traeger says the customers have not done.

The grill company further claims that the customers cannot seek injunctive relief because they have not provided factual allegations about how they would be harmed in the future. These allegations are required for injunctive relief under both Utah and California law.

The customers aim to certify both a nationwide Class of consumers affected by Traeger’s alleged misrepresentation, and subclass of Utah customers.

The Traeger wood pellet class action lawsuit was filed in October 2019 by Michael Yates. Yates says that Traeger sells wood pellets for grilling that the company advertises as being made of expensive grilling woods like mesquite woods, but are actually made of other woods.

Allegedly, Traeger uses wood pellets made of wood other than the prized grilling wood and then adds oil to flavor them. 

Yates says that he used Traeger’s Mesquite BBQ Wood Pellets and the Texas Beef Blend Pellets for grilling, but found that the flavor of his food did not match the advertised wood in the products. He says that he called Traeger’s customer service, at which point he was told that the pellets are not made of the woods advertised.

The Traeger wood pellets class action lawsuit says that Traeger intentionally misleads customers about the nature of the wood pellets to trick them into buying a less valuable products.

Allegedly, customers are financially injured by this conduct because, had they known that the pellets are not what is advertised, they might not have purchased them or would not have paid as much as they did for them.

Do you use certain wood for grilling? How do you choose your grilling products? Tell us about it in the comments below.

Traeger customers are represented by Jared D. Scott and Heather M. Sneddon of Anderson & Karrenberg; and by Karl S. Kronenberger, Jeffery M. Rosenfeld, and Liana W. Chen of Kronenberger Rosenfeld LLP.

The Traeger Grilling Pellets Class Action Lawsuit is Yates, et al. v. Traeger Pellet Grills LLC, Case No. 2:19-cv-00723-DBP, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah.

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