Martha Stewart Asks Judge to Dismiss Emeril Knife Class Action Lawsuit

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Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. and the Home Shopping Network have asked a federal judge to dismiss a proposed class action lawsuit accusing them of duping customers into believing that Emeril Lagasse-branded knives were made in Solingen, Germany — a designation that indicates they’re of higher quality than they allegedly are. The companies insist the plaintiffs didn’t show that the supposed deception played a role in their decision to purchase the knives.

In the original Emeril kitchen knife class action lawsuit filing, plaintiff Allen Moshiri said that Emeril’s Homebase, LLC; Emerils.com; Martha Stewart and HSN “have promoted, advertised and sold various kitchen knives and knife sets under the ‘Emeril’ brand name that defendants represented were manufactured in Solingen, Germany — an area world famous for producing high quality cutlery,” comparing the “Solingen” name on the knives to an appellation such as Prosciutto di Parma or Champagne. The so-called “Solingen Decree,” according to the class action lawsuit, indicates the knives must meet “extremely high and specific standards of manufacture.”

Martha Stewart has owned the Emeril brand and products since February 2008. The home products giant claimed that the Emeril knife class action lawsuit, “when stripped of its conclusory allegations, does not contain sufficient facts to establish a claim under California’s False Advertising Law, Unfair Competition Law and the Consumer Legal Remedies Act.” The filing says that Moshiri “fails, among other things, to state the time, place and specific content of the purported false or misleading allegation.”

The Emeril knife class action lawsuit alleges that Martha Stewart and the Home Shopping Network “falsely represented to the public that the EMERIL brand counterfeit knives are made in Solingen, Germany through various means, with the misrepresentations being made in advertisements, promotions, offers and sales occurring over the internet, through nationally televised promotional shows, and through telephone sales.”

However, the May 7 motion to dismiss the Emeril knives class action lawsuit claims that plaintiff Moshiri fails to say specifically what each defendant did or failed to do, and fails to describe how it was that he relied on the Solingen mark when making the purchase. So, he has not demonstrated either standing nor injury. The motion calls Moshiri’s allegations “amorphous” and “woefully inadequate” and says that, absent specific allegations regarding the content of the advertisements, “the only thing that remains is a generalized allegation that Defendants represented the knives to be ‘high quality.’ It is well established that such generalized statements constitute mere puffery and are not actionable.”

The Emeril knives class action lawsuit alleges that in July 2012 Moshiri purchased a five-inch “santoku” Japanese-style chef’s knife branded with Lagasse’s name. He claimed it was advertised as being made in Solingen, but was actually made in China. Like many European appellation regulations, Moshiri claims, German law requires that products stamped with the town’s name meet strict quality conditions and be manufactured locally.

Soon after he and many other consumers received their Emeril Lagasse-branded knives and began to use them, Moshiri’s Emeril kitchen knives class action lawsuit alleges, the knives began to show signs of poor quality; he complained they “rust easily, lose their edge, and that the blades chip and break easily.”

Earlier this year, Emeril Lagasse, Martha Stewart and HSN settled an Emeril knife lawsuit filed by a German regional trade association, which claimed the three defendants improperly sold the Chinese knives in question with the Solingen mark — the identical claim made in Moshiri’s potential Emeril knife class action lawsuit. The parties settled for an undisclosed payment by the defendants and an injunction against selling products with the “Solingen” trademark.

The plaintiffs are represented by Farrah Mirabel of the Law Offices of Farrah Mirabel, and J. Kirk Donnelly of the Law Offices of J. Kirk Donnelly APC.

The Emeril Kitchen Knife Class Action Lawsuit is Allen Moshiri v. HSNi LLC et al., Case No. 3:14-cv-01034, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.