CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) - Molson Coors is fighting a class action lawsuit brought by a man who says he expected its "Ranch Water" flavored hard seltzers to contain tequila, like traditional ranch water does.
Molson Coors filed its motion to dismiss March 27 in Chicago federal court in a case brought by Jonathan Nootens and lawyer Spencer Sheehan. Nooten claims he expected the product to contain tequila because its packaging contained the words "agave" and "spiked."
Molson Coors says the words "hard seltzer" are written in large letters on the secondary packaging and front of each can.
"(H)e alleges that he expected the product to be a ranch water cocktail rather than a hard seltzer, and was purportedly disappointed to learn that it did not contain tequila - even though the product is clearly labeled 'hard seltzer' and does not make any mention of tequila," the motion says.
The ingredient list makes no reference to tequila, hard liquor or distilled spirits, Molson Coors says.
"Instead, Plaintiff alleges that he read 'Ranch Water,' 'Hard Seltzer,' 'Spiked' and '100% Agave and Real Lime Juice,' and somehow transformed that into an expectation that the product contained tequila," the motion says.
"In his unsuccessful attempt to support this claimed expectation, Plaintiff tries to redefine common terms such as 'hard' and 'spiked' to refer only to distilled spirits (in contradiction to the definition of dictionaries and courts alike), and strains to twist 'agave' (a popular sweetener) into a synonym of 'tequila.'"
Nootens further alleges that the product label also misleadingly shows a picture of the agave plant, which is the source crop for tequila, and that consumers expect the defendant's beverage to contain tequila and other ingredients associated with ranch water.