Paul Tassin  |  August 30, 2016

Category: Consumer News

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Just days after escaping a similar claim in California, Starbucks now seeks the dismissal of a consumer lawsuit in Illinois federal court that accuses the company of underfilling its iced drinks.

Plaintiff Steven Galanis is now the lead plaintiff in this Starbucks class action lawsuit, originally filed by former lead plaintiff Stacy Pincus in the spring of 2016.

Galanis alleges that because of the volume of ice included in Starbucks iced drinks, the amount of actual drink is only a fraction of what customers are led to expect – “just over half the advertised amount, and just over half the amount for which they are paying,” he claims.

In its motion to dismiss Galanis’s claims, Starbucks argues no reasonable consumer would mistakenly think the company’s stated sizes of its iced drinks don’t include the ice.

“Plaintiff fails to plausibly allege that a representation regarding the fluid ounces in an Iced Beverage is misleading unless the representation reflects the number of fluid ounces provided without ice,” the company argues. “No reasonable consumer would be misled by the alleged representation, and [Galanis’s first amended complaint] should be dismissed.”

The company also argues that Galanis fails to allege any actual misrepresentation.

“Plaintiff alleges no facts demonstrating Starbucks ever made any representations as to the ratio of ingredients in its Iced Beverages, or any representation that an Iced Beverage is measured without ice,” the company points out.

Starbucks also says Galanis’ allegations are not specific enough to state claims based on fraud and fraud-related theories. His allegations fail to state the “who, what, when, where, and how” of the alleged fraud, the company argues.

Galanis does not allege which specific iced drinks are at issue, the specific occasions on which he bought these drinks from Starbucks, or even whether he ever read the purported misrepresentations off the store’s menu board or website, Starbucks argues.

In May 2016, Starbucks asked the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to consolidate this and three similar lawsuits in a federal court in Seattle.

One of those Starbucks lawsuits, filed in a California federal court by plaintiff Alexander Forouzesh, raised issues with Starbucks iced drinks that are essentially similar to the claims Galanis is now making.

After Starbucks requested the consolidation, Forouzesh’s Starbucks class action lawsuit was dismissed in its entirety and with prejudice by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson.

Judge Anderson commented that that “[w]hen a reasonable consumer walks into a Starbucks and orders a Grande iced tea, that consumer knows the size of the cup that drink will be served in and that a portion of the drink will consist of ice.”

Another Starbucks lawsuit in the requested consolidation takes issue with some of the company’s hot drinks, alleging the stated sizes of drinks with steamed milk do not account for the volume of foam at the top of the drinks.

The fourth Starbucks lawsuit claims the company’s policy of not filling cups to the top leaves the customer with less product than they were led to expect they would have.

Galanis is represented by Steven A. Hart, Robert K. McLaughlin and Benjamin M. Shrader of Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge LLC.

The Starbucks Underfilled Iced Drinks Class Action Lawsuit is Galanis v. Starbucks Corp., Case No.1:16-cv-04705, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

UPDATE: On Sept. 20, 2016, Starbucks won a bid to halt discovery in a class action lawsuit alleging the coffee giant over-ices it drinks, resulting in beverages that contain significantly less product than advertised.

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One thought on Starbucks Says Underfilled Drink Class Action Should Be Dismissed

  1. Top Class Actions says:

    UPDATE: On Sept. 20, 2016, Starbucks won a bid to halt discovery in a class action lawsuit alleging the coffee giant over-ices it drinks, resulting in beverages that contain significantly less product than advertised.

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