Tea Drinker Fights Bigelow Class Action Dismissal Bid

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A consumer in a tea labeling lawsuit has formally responded to an attempt by Bigelow Tea to avoid a tea labeling lawsuit on first amendment grounds.

In the class action lawsuit, plaintiff Adam Victor alleged that Bigelow Tea committed fraud by misleading consumers into believing its teas are high in antioxidants.

Victor’s Bigelow class action holds that Bigelow Tea is not particularly high in antioxidants, but claims of such led him to pay a premium for Bigelow Tea, enriching the company.

His lawsuit alleges that Bigelow Tea’s label claims that it “‘delivers healthful antioxidants’…when, in fact, the tea products do not met the minimum nutrient level threshold to make such a claim.”

However, this has not been an open-and-closed case.

In June, the Bigelow filed a motion arguing that Victor had not disproved the statement that their teas are rich in antioxidants, and that the company’s statement was protected speech under the first amendment.

Bigelow’s motion also argued that the company’s nutrition experts had verified that their black tea was rich in flavonoids, a natural source of antioxidants.

Further, Bigelow claimed that Victor did not prove that reasonable consumers were misled by the statement, saying that a survey could help determine if consumers bought the tea because of the marketing claims in the first place.

However, in a brief filed by Victor, he argues that it would be premature to dismiss his tea labeling lawsuit at this point. The plaintiff says that Bigelow is trying to force him to prove his entire case before it even reaches trial.

Victor’s brief further contends that if it turns out that Bigelow’s labeling statements are not true, these statements would have no protection under the First Amendment.

The plaintiff also argues that under California law, a person has standing under consumer protection laws to file suit if they pay more for a product that they would have otherwise, or bought it when they wouldn’t have, based on false advertising. Victor argues that this gives him standing to file the lawsuit.

In March of this year, this tea labeling lawsuit and a similar case file for class certification. At the time, courts rejected to motion to turn these cases into a larger class action tea labeling lawsuit. However, a hearing is scheduled for Aug. 10 as the next step in the process for Victor’s tea labeling lawsuit.

If this case receives Class certification, potential Class Members could include anyone from California who purchased Bigelow Tea varieties including Darjeeling Tea, English Breakfast Tea, Lemon Lift, and other flavors since June of 2009 who decided to purchase the tea based on claims that the tea was rich in antioxidants.

Victor is represented by Pierce Gore of Pratt & Associates and J. Price Coleman of Coleman Law Firm.

The Bigelow Tea Class Action Lawsuit is Victor v. R.C. Bigelow Inc., Case No. 3:13-cv-­­02976, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division.