Anheuser-Busch Fights Class Cert. in Leffe Beer Lawsuit

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Anheuser-Busch is fighting to prevent a legal claim over its Leffe beer from turning into a false advertising class action lawsuit.

The brewing giant filed its opposition to plaintiff Henry Vazquez’s motion for class certification on Aug. 15.

The company argues Vazquez’s bid for class certification is unsupported by any evidence. It says that Vazquez merely restates allegations from his complaint, allegations the company claims are unfounded.

Anheuser-Busch also argues that Vazquez’s proposed Class of all “retail purchasers” of Leffe beer is unsustainable for technical reasons.

It says Vazquez provides no way of determining exactly who is or is not a Class Member.

Anheuser-Busch characterizes Vazquez’s proposal as requiring Class Members to self-identify, which the company says is neither practically feasible nor a legally valid way of determining Class membership.

“[C]onsumers are unlikely to retain receipts or other documentation that would identify whether they bought Leffe during the putative class period, where, and for what price,” the company argues. “Nor are they likely to recall these details.”

Vazquez filed this Leffe class action lawsuit in April 2016. He claims the packaging for Leffe misled him and proposed Class Members into paying a premium for the beer that they would not have otherwise paid.

The plaintiff argues phrasing on the beer’s packaging such as “Abbey Ale” and the image of the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Leffe give consumers the false impression that the beer is brewed at the abbey.

He further argues that the phrase “Anno 1240” deceives consumers into thinking that Leffe beer has been brewed at the abbey since that year.

According to Anheuser-Busch’s motion, Leffe beer was first brewed by monks at the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Leffe in 1240. The abbey stopped brewing the beer more than 200 years ago.

The current incarnation of Leffe has been brewed for decades pursuant to a formal agreement with the abbey, the company says. Since Anheuser-Busch acquired Leffe beer in 2008, it has been brewed at the company’s AB InBev Stella Artois industrial brewery in Leuven, Belgium.

The phrases “abbey beer” and “abbey ale” refer to a type of beer, not the place where the beer is brewed, Anheuser-Busch says.

The company says Leffe is one of 18 Certified Belgian Abbey Beers and that it shares the market with many uncertified abbey beers, including some made in commercial breweries in the U.S.

Anheuser-Busch previously moved the court to dismiss the Leffe class action lawsuit. The company denied then that the labeling for Leffe six-packs implies the beer is made by monks at the abbey.

If certified by the court, the proposed Class would consist of all retail consumers in the U.S. who bought Leffe beer within the last four years. Vazquez is also proposing a subclass consisting of Class Members in Florida.

Vazquez is represented by attorneys Ervin A. Gonzalez, Natalie M. Rico and Patrick Montoya of Colson Hicks Eidson.

The Leffe Beer False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Henry Vazquez v. Anheuser-Busch Companies LLC, Case No. 1:16-cv-21181, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

UPDATE: On Sept. 16, 2016, Vazquez is challenging an attempt by Anheuser-Busch Companies LLC to dismiss a class action lawsuit that accuses the company of misrepresenting the origin of its Leffe “abbey ale.”