Guinness Brewing Location Class Action Lawsuit Trimmed

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UPDATE:

• A nationwide class action settlement was reached as of April 19, 2021.
• A preliminary approval hearing is scheduled for June 9, 2021.
• Top Class Actions will let viewers know when the settlement website and claim form are available.

Last week, a Massachusetts federal judge dismissed claims from a class action lawsuit that alleges the makers of Guinness Extra Stout deceived consumers into believing the beer was brewed in Ireland when it is really brewed in Canada.

The Guinness class action lawsuit was filed in January 2016 by plaintiff Kieran O’Hara, who accused Diageo-Guinness USA Inc. and Diageo North America Inc. of deceptively advertising that Guinness Extra Stout was brewed at St. James’s Gate brewery in Dublin, Ireland when it is actually brewed in New Brunswick, Canada.

O’Hara claims that the language “Traditionally brewed” and “St. James’s Gate Dublin” combined with the language “Imported Guinness Extra Stout” leads consumers to believe that the product is manufactured, sourced, brewed, bottled and/or imported from Ireland.

Further, the Frequently Asked Questions page of the Guinness website allegedly states: “All Guinness sold in the UK, Ireland, and North America is brewed in Ireland at the historic St. James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin.”

The Guinness class action lawsuit notes that the bottles of Guinness include a small disclosure indicating the beer is actually brewed in Canada, but O’Hara argues that the disclaimer is not sufficiently conspicuous to notify consumers that the product is not brewed in Ireland.

O’Hara alleges he paid more for Guinness than he would have paid if the defendants had disclosed the product’s origin. He says he saw the alleged misrepresentations about the beer and that they influenced his decision to purchase the product.

The Guinness class action lawsuit asserted claims including unjust enrichment, misrepresentation and unfair and deceptive practices in violation of Massachusetts state law.

The defendants filed a motion to dismiss the Guinness class action lawsuit, and on March 27, U.S. District Judge Mark L. Wolf trimmed some, but not all, of the claims.

Judge Wolf noted that the claims alleging misleading statements on the Guinness labeling and packaging are barred because they were approved by the Alcohol Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Because the agency did not review the claims made on the defendants’ website, those claims can proceed, the judge said.

“The TTB determined that the challenged representations on the front of the bottles are not deceptive,” Judge Wolf said in his order. “However, the TTB did not approve the clearer statement on defendants’ website that ‘all the Guinness sold in … North America is brewed in Ireland at the historic St. James’s Gate brewery in Dublin.’”

The judge also dismissed O’Hara’s claims for unjust enrichment, injunctive relief, and declaratory judgment. However, O’Hara’s claims for misrepresentation and the state law claims based on the alleged misrepresentations on the defendants’ website were allowed to proceed.

O’Hara filed the Guinness class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and a proposed Class of consumers in the United States who purchased Guinness Extra Stout during the time period it was allegedly misrepresented as having been manufactured, brewed, sourced, bottled and/or imported from the St. James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin.

O’Hara is represented by Kevin J. McCullough of Forrest LaMothe Mazow McCullough Yasi & Yasi PC.

The Guinness Brewing Location Class Action Lawsuit is Kieran O’Hara v. Diageo-Guinness USA Inc., Case No. 1:15-cv-14139, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.