Innovative Dining Group Settles Kobe Beef Class Action Lawsuit

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Innovative Dining Group LLC has become the latest California company to settle a class action lawsuit alleging it falsely advertised menu items as containing Kobe beef. The owner of the Boa Steakhouse and Sushi Roku restaurant chains has agreed to provide affected customers with gift certificates and will correct its menus.

According to the Kobe beef class action settlement, which was approved Friday by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John S. Wiley, IDG has agreed to provide an unlimited number of $20 gift certificates to Class Members who provide proof that they purchased a Kobe beef menu item. The company has also agreed to provide up to $100,000 worth of $10 gift certificates to any Class Member who submits a claim without proof of purchase.

Under the terms of the Kobe beef class action settlement, Class Members include all California consumers who purchased Kobe beef products from restaurants owned by IDG from October 2008 until May 30, 2014.

The Kobe beef class action lawsuit was initially filed in October 2012 and alleged that IDG misled customers by advertising Kobe beef products on its restaurant menus. The plaintiffs alleged that the term Kobe beef only applies to the breed of Wagyu cattle raised and slaughtered in Japan. According to the class action lawsuit, the U.S. Department of Agriculture banned the import of Kobe beef in May 2010 over concerns about the spread of mad cow disease. The ban on Kobe beef imports was relaxed in August 2012.

Following the ban on Kobe beef imports, many restaurants continued to list Kobe beef products on their menus. Consumers angry over the deception have stepped up to file false advertising class action lawsuits against the offending companies. Marriott International Inc. was hit with a Kobe beef class action lawsuit in Illinois after a couple served “Kobe beef” sliders at their wedding reception which was held at a Marriott resort in 2011.

IDG is just the latest restaurant company to settle a class action lawsuit alleging it falsely advertised menu items as containing Kobe beef. Earlier this year, Barney’s Beanery Worldwide Inc. agreed to offer gift cards to California-based consumers who ordered “Kobe beef” products from its California restaurants. Last year, McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants Inc. agreed to settle a class action lawsuit alleging it misled consumers about its Kobe beef menu items.

Details about the IDG Kobe beef settlement were not immediately available. Keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter for the latest updates. You can also mark this article as a “Favorite” using your free Top Class Actions account to receive notifications when this article is updated.

The plaintiffs are represented by Edwin Aiwazian and Arby Aiwazian of Lawyers for Justice PC and Kevin Shenkman and Mary Hughes of Shenkman & Hughes.

The Kobe Beef False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Lisa Hall v. Innovative Dining Group LLC, Case No. BC493144 in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.

UPDATE: Instructions on how to file a claim for the Kobe beef class action settlement are available here.