Wal-Mart Shoppers Fight Motion to Dismiss False Ad Class Action

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Wal-Mart shoppers fought back against the retail giant’s motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit that accuses the company of falsely labeling store brand cans of pork and beans, saying the defendant is ignoring the facts listed in the complaint.

Matthew Tye, along with other plaintiffs, argue that Wal-Mart’s demand for “specific testing” that would prove the cans contain no pork, is not actually required at this point in the litigation process.

According to Tye, the Supreme Court has made it clear that in order to survive a motion to dismiss, the lawsuit “does not need detailed factual allegations,” but rather the plaintiffs’ only obligation is to provide “sufficient factual allegations ‘to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.’”

The Wal-Mart class action lawsuit filed last October states that the plaintiffs made their accusations that the product contained no pork based on “rigorous scientific testing including microscopic and chemical analysis” which they argue should be enough to nudge the complaint beyond the level of speculation.

The plaintiffs further contend that Wal-Mart is twisting their initial allegations by claiming that the manufacturer “clarifies” that the cans contain less than 2% of pork on the ingredients list. Tye says the plaintiffs are not contesting that the product doesn’t contain “enough” pork, but that the cans of Great Value Pork & Beans contain no pork whatsoever.

According to the class action lawsuit, Wal-Mart has been fully aware that GV Pork & Beans do not include pork since they began manufacturing the product. The plaintiffs allege that by labeling the product as “pork & beans” the retailer is deceptively marketing the food item.

“Each and every can of the Product bears a uniformly-worded label which makes the same false, affirmative statements of fact: that pork is included in the Product,” the Wal-Mart class action lawsuit states.

The plaintiffs point to the requirement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that states pork and bean products must contain a minimum of 12 percent pork in order to be labeled as such. However, not even a chemical analysis could show traces of pork within cans of Good Value Pork & Beans, the lawsuit claims.

If approved, the Wal-Mart pork and beans class action lawsuit would be open to all U.S. Class Members who bought the product. The plaintiffs seek to financially reimburse potential Class Members for purchasing cans of Great Value Pork & Beans as well as require Wal-Mart to stop engaging in the alleged deceptive marketing of this food item.

The plaintiffs are represented by Todd M. Friedman, Suren N. Weerasuriya and Adrian R. Bacon of Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman PC and Stephen P. DeNittis of DeNittis Osefchen PC.

The Wal-Mart Great Value Pork & Beans Class Action Lawsuit is Matthew Tye, et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., et al., Case No. 8:15-cv-01615, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

UPDATE: On Apr. 7, 2016, Wal-Mart filed a motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s first amended complaint on grounds that the consumer’s opposition brief lacks factual allegations regarding the sensitivity of the alleged testing performed on the product.