Twinings Seeks Another Dismissal in Tea Class Action Lawsuit

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In a class action lawsuit alleging Twinings North America deceives consumers by including misleading health claims on tea packaging, the tea maker filed yet another motion to dismiss the claims.

Lead plaintiff Nancy Lanovaz originally filed the class action in 2012. In her complaint, Lanovaz alleged that Twinings violated U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules when it included health claims, like the presence and health benefits of antioxidants on tea packaging. These health claims also violated false-advertising laws, according to the plaintiff.

In its most recent filing for dismissal, Twinings argues that the plaintiff had not established that consumers were deceived by the advertising or bought Twinings tea because of the alleged false advertising about the tea’s health benefits.

Twinings contended that the advertising did not include any information about a specific level of antioxidants included in the teas and a normal consumer wouldn’t assume as much.

“Despite two years of discovery,” said Twinings in its filing arguing to dismiss the class action lawsuit. “Plaintiff’s evidence is the same as at class certification. She offers her own inconsistent deposition testimony, inapposite FDA warning letters, and the same fill-in-the-blank experts. None of this holds up.”

Twinings also pointed out that the expert hired by the Class testified about the phrase “all natural”; however, argued Twinings, “all natural” was not used on any of the packaging the plaintiff claims is misleading.

In April, the plaintiff argued that the court should continue with the class action lawsuit. The plaintiff said that she has faced all of Twinings arguments before and the class action survived those motion to dismiss.

The class action lawsuit has survived other motions to dismiss. In one motion filed in 2013, Twinings argued that since the plaintiff had not purchased all of the types of teas listed in an amended complaint filed by the plaintiff, she should not be able to base her claims on them. U.S. District Judge Ronald M. Whyte disagreed, pointing out that almost all of the teas had been made from the same plant and the claims for those teas were based on the “exact same label describing the product.”

The class action survived another motion to dismiss in 2014. In 2014, Twinings argued that the health claims contained in the packaging could not be considered illegal. Again, Judge Whyte dismissed the claim. Although he agreed that the claims were not illegal, he pointed out that the plaintiff could still establish that she and other tea drinkers suffered an economic injury by paying a premium for the tea because they thought the health claims were true.

In 2014, Judge Whyte also partially certified the Class proposed by the class action lawsuit. Although the judge declined to certify a damages Class, an injunction Class was certified.

The plaintiff is seeking monetary and injunctive relief for all consumers who purchased Twinings tea based on the alleged false labels.

Lanovaz is represented by Pierce Gore of Pratt & Associates, J. Price Coleman of Coleman Law Firm and Brian Herrington of Barrett Law Group.

The Twinings Tea False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Nancy Lanovaz, et al. v. Twinings North America Inc., Case No. 5:12-cv-02646, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On Sept. 6, 2016,Twinings won a bid for dismissal in a consumer fraud class action lawsuit claiming the company falsely represented the health benefits of more than 50 different blends of its teas.