Sensa Weight-Loss Crystals Lawsuit Denied Class Certification

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Consumers have been refused Class certification for their lawsuit claiming that Sensa weight-loss crystals are falsely advertised.

U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino decided to refuse Class certification to the consumers on Monday because she determined that an arbitration clause on the now-defunct Sensa’s website did not give consumers who purchased products through the website the right to participate in a class action lawsuit.

According to Judge Sammartino, the arbitration clause on the product’s website said that all buyers who purchased the product through the website agreed to arbitrate claims on an individual basis.

Plaintiff Susan Stokes filed the Sensa class action claiming that Sensa falsely advertised weight-loss “crystals” that allegedly reduced a user’s appetite when the crystals were sprinkled on food.

Stokes aimed to certify a nationwide Class of all consumers who purchased specific Sensa products after August 2012.

Judge Sammartino said that because roughly 84 percent of Sensa’s customers purchased their products online, she would not certify Stokes’ proposed Class, because it was possible that 84 percent of the proposed Class would subsequently not be able to participate in a Sensa class action lawsuit.

According to Judge Sammartino, the online customers’ “individual issues would overshadow the common issues of whether defendants’ advertisements were false and whether defendants violated certain laws.”

In protest of this decision, Stokes argued that after certifying a nationwide Class of consumers who had purchased Sensa products in stores or online, the court could create subclasses of consumers or exclude certain customers to deal with the issue of the arbitration clause.

In her Sensa false advertising class action lawsuit, Stokes aimed to hold both Sensa’s former parent company, IB Holding LLC and TechStyle Inc., an online retailer founded by Sensa’s former CEO, accountable for false advertising claims. TechStyle Inc. was formerly known as JustFab Inc.

Stokes alleges that Sensa engaged in false and misleading advertising of its weight-loss crystals, which the company allegedly claimed would reduce a person’s appetite when they are sprinkled on food, causing them to eat smaller portions of food and consequently lose weight.

She also claims that the company is guilty of unfair competition and breach of warranty. Her claims follow a class action settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, who also accused the company of false advertising.

According to Stokes, she purchased Sensa products in store for a period of five years, after seeing the “crystals” advertised on TV via commercials and infomercials. She claims she spent more than $5,000 on the weight-loss product.

The plaintiff says she did achieve her “goal of maintaining her weigh even though she was not exercising due to an injury.”

Sensa Products fired back at Stokes’ false advertising claims by saying that she could not claim that she was injured by the product because she was satisfied by its results.

However, Judge Sammartino was not compelled by this argument, saying that “satisfaction (or lack thereof) is not the focus of the ‘injury’ requirement for a false advertising claim: A product can be falsely advertised even if people enjoy it.”

The judge went on to defend Stokes’ claims, saying that “Stokes purchased the [Sensa products] after viewing the advertisements and has standing to claim that the advertisements were false and that she was damaged thereby.”

Stokes is represented by L. Timothy Fisher, Thomas A. Reyda, and Blair Reed of Bursor & Fisher PA; Lionel Z. Glancy, Mark S. Greenstone, and Brian P. Murray of Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP; Louis D’Agostino of Cheffy Passidomo PA and Edmond Koester of Coleman Yovanovich & Koester PA.

The Sensa Weight-Loss Crystals Class Action Lawsuit is Stokes v. Sensa Products, Case No. 3:14-cv-00051, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.