Whole Foods Class Action Says Customers Overcharged for Produce

Whole Foods Market California Inc. has been hit with a class action lawsuit accusing the health food retailer of calibrating the scales at its cash registers such that customers pay more for a heavier amount of produce than the customer actually purchased.

Plaintiff Michael Rose alleges he weighed produce at Whole Foods on a scale provided in the produce department, but was overcharged for this produce based on the cashier scale. He believes that Whole Foods requires its employees to calibrate the cashier scales so that they are calibrated heavier than the scales in the produce section.

“The produce department scales provided one weight, yet when Plaintiff and others similarly situated used the scale at the cashier counter, they were charged more than the stated amount from the produce department scale,” the Whole Foods class action lawsuit alleges.

A demand letter sent to Whole Foods by Rose’s attorney in October is included as an exhibit in the produce overcharging class action lawsuit. According to the demand letter, Rose weighed one pound of grapes (priced at $3.99 per pound) at a Whole Foods store in California. When he brought the grapes to the cashier, the cashier weighed the grapes and allegedly charged him more than three times the amount he expected to pay.

“If Whole Foods advertised the real price per pound for the grapes, i.e. the price that Mr. Rose ended up paying, Mr. Rose would not have purchased it,” the demand letter states. “Mr. Rose suffered a loss of money as a result of Whole Foods misrepresentation and deceit in the amount of $7.98.”

The Whole Foods class action lawsuit states that Rose experienced Whole Foods’ “deceptive acts and practices” as recently as Jan. 18, 2015.

By filing the Whole Foods class action lawsuit, Rose seeks to represent a Class of consumers who, in the last three years, weighed their produce in the store’s produce department before purchasing the produce.

The Whole Foods overcharging class action lawsuit asserts claims for false advertising, unfair competition, and violation of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act. The complaint seeks damages, penalties and injunctive relief.

Whole Foods recently faced a similar class action lawsuit in New York over claims it mislabeled the weights on some of its prepackaged foods, causing consumers to be overcharged. That Whole Foods class action lawsuit was dismissed earlier this year. However, Whole Foods reached a settlement with the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs and agreed to pay $500,000 and implement policy and labeling practices and procedures. Whole Foods denied any wrongdoing and said that any mislabeling that occurred was due to “simple human error.”

Rose is represented by Evan Selik of Selik & Associates APC and Ari E. Moss of the Law Offices of Ari Moss.

The Whole Foods Produce Overcharging Class Action Lawsuit is Michael Rose v. Whole Foods Market California Inc., Case No. BC 618027, in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles.