LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A California woman has filed a class action lawsuit against Starbucks Corporation for what she claims are deceptive business practices.
Teresa Adams and her attorneys at Carlson Lynch LLP filed the case Feb. 4 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in early February on behalf of herself and other customers of the coffee chain.
The suit alleged that Starbucks cheats its customers when they chose to upsize by paying for a more expensive drink with the same amount of espresso or caffeine as it's smaller sizes.
The suit said the reasonable expectation that buying a larger size would mean more caffeine is not true at all in drinks the company sells. The case cites an example with a Grande Caffe Latte. It claims the medium-sized drink contained 150 mg caffeine, and the same amount can be found in the large or Venti size.
The lawsuit came after Adams bought the large Pumpkin Spice Latte from a Starbucks location in San Clemente in November 2019. Adams said she believed the larger size would contain more caffeine than the medium-sized drink, but it was watered down and contained the same amount of espresso. Adams maintains she would not have paid more for the large had she known that was going to be the case.
The suit accuses the company of violating the Unfair Competition Law, the False Advertising Law, and Consumer Legal Remedies Act. It claims Starbucks' advertisements are wrong, misleading, and leave out information.
Adams and her attorneys claim she and other customers in a similar situation lost money because of what they call deceptive misrepresentations and omissions on Starbucks' part. Now they're seeking restitution for the Adams and members of the class action. They also want the court to order the company fix its advertising.