Judge Tosses SeaWorld Class Action Lawsuit Alleging Whale Abuse

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On Friday, a federal judge in California dismissed a consolidated proposed class action lawsuit filed by consumers who claimed they would not have purchased SeaWorld tickets had known that the orca whales were allegedly being mistreated.

U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo dismissed the amended proposed class action lawsuit with prejudice, saying that there was insufficient evidence that SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. had engaged in misleading and deceiving customers about the conditions of the orca whales.

Previously, the court ruled that SeaWorld was not required to disclose the health and condition of their captive killer whales. Due to this ruling, the judge said that some proposed Class Members could not bring fraud claims because they lacked standing.

Judge Bencivengo said that the amended complaint continued to fail to plead the claims with specificity, just as the previous version had.

“[The new complaint] does not remove any factual allegations and is largely identical to the [previous version],” Judge Bencivengo stated. “Indeed, the [new complaint] even retains and adds allegations to a section with the heading ‘SeaWorld Has a Duty to Disclose to Consumers Its Treatment of Captive Orcas and their Actual Condition’ even though the court explicitly held that SeaWorld did not have such a duty to disclose.”

Ever since the documentary “Blackfish” aired on CNN in October 2013, controversy has emerged over the alleged mistreatment of SeaWorld whales, especially Tilikum, the whale that killed trainer Dawn Brancheau.

Plaintiff Holly Hall filed the lawsuit against Sea World last March alleging that the theme park misleads customers with deceptive business practices and mistreatment of its whales. Hall said she would not have purchased theme park tickets in 2011 and 2012 if she had known how SeaWorld was treating its animals.

According to the proposed class action lawsuit, the cramped living spaces for whales and whale family separation led the animals to exhibit aggression that put trainers and other whales at risk. The plaintiff also alleged that the animals’ living conditions contributed to a shorter lifespan.

Following the filing of Hall’s proposed class action lawsuit and another pair of cases with similar claims, Judge Bencivengo consolidated the lawsuits that claimed SeaWorld violated consumer laws in California, Florida and Texas. The lawsuits intended to represent nationwide Classes of customers who purchased SeaWorld tickets in San Diego, San Antonio and Orlando.

Hall’s recent amended complaint claimed that SeaWorld “markets an enchanting illusion of happy and healthy captive killer whales.” She said if the general public knew the truth about how the animals were really treated, they would choose to not visit the theme parks.

In October, SeaWorld said that the plaintiffs in the lawsuits failed to disclose which statements they relied upon for their ticket purchases and said they failed to specifically identify what information was misrepresented or hidden from the public. The company argued that the plaintiffs could not prove future injury would occur from purchasing SeaWorld tickets.

Judge Bencivengo said that Hall’s opposition to SeaWorld’s motion to dismiss, despite the previous ruling from the court “blatantly reargues that SeaWorld did in fact have a general duty to disclose the condition of the whales.”

Judge Bencivengo also said that the plaintiffs could not have suffered economic injury caused by its alleged violation of animal cruelty laws, so the plaintiffs could not accuse SeaWorld of violating unfair competition laws.

The plaintiffs are represented by Steve W. Berman, Shayne C. Stevenson and Elaine T. Byszewski of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP.

The SeaWorld Deceptive Business Practices Class Action Lawsuit is Holly Hall v. SeaWorld Entertainment Inc., Case No. 3:15-cv-00660, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.