Ralphs Hit with Class Action Lawsuit Over Decaf Coffee Claims

A class action lawsuit filed in California last week accuses Ralphs Grocery Co. of falsely advertising that its Ralphs brand decaffeinated coffee is “without caffeine,” alleging that it actually contains small amounts of the stimulant.

Plaintiff Raffy Kopalian filed the class action lawsuit in the Los Angeles County Superior Court on Jan. 22, claiming it was only after he purchased Ralphs decaf coffee that he read the tiny print on the back of the can that indicated the coffee is only 99.7% caffeine free.

“Plaintiff relied on Defendant’s misrepresentations that the Decaf Coffee Products were without caffeine when purchasing them,” the class action states. Because of the allegedly misleading label, Kopalian says he opted to purchase the Ralphs Decaf Coffee Products over a competitor, who didn’t state that its decaf coffee was “without caffeine.”

The plaintiff says that Ralphs’ “without caffeine” claim constitutes false advertising and is “unfair, unlawful, and fraudulent conduct.”

In January 2013, Kopalian bought Ralphs-brand “decaf classic” Decaf Coffee Product at issue at a Ralphs supermarket in Chatsworth, California in the Los Angeles area, because it was labeled “without caffeine,” believing that it meant it was “100% without caffeine.”

The class action lawsuit says Ralphs has been making this misleading claim since at least 2012. Kopalian added that he lost money as a result of the deceptive labeling.

Before filing the class action lawsuit, Kopalian sent a letter to Ralphs asking to be compensated for the allegedly false claims made on the label of the decaf coffee product. Ralphs allegedly replied by saying they were not guilty of the allegations and said they would look into seeking sanctions against Kopalian if he followed through with filing lawsuit against the California grocery store chain, according to the complaint.

The California man is charging Ralphs with violating California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act, California’s Unfair Competition Law, California’s False Advertising Law, Unfair Business Practices, False Advertising and breach of express warranty.

He is seeking to represent all California consumers who purchased Ralphs “Decaf Classic” ground coffee bearing the “without caffeine” label claim at any time within the past four years.

The plaintiff is represented by Andrew J. Sokolowski of The Law Office of Andrew J. Sokolowski, by Nareg S. Kitsinian of Kitsinian Law Firm, by Rhett T. Francisco of The Law Office of Rhett T. Francisco and by Pawl R. Sasik of The Law Offices of Pawl R. Sasik.

The Ralphs Decaf Coffee Class Action Lawsuit is Raffy Kopallian v. Ralphs Grocery Co. et al., Case No. BC533846, in the Superior Court for the State of California, Los Angeles County.