NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – If a class action lawsuit against the maker of an as-seen-on-TV frying pan is going to stick, it’s likely going to be in Florida.
That’s because a New York federal judge has thrown out all claims against The Cookware Company except for one: Alleged violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, keeping alive the possibility of a class of Florida customers.
The lawsuit claims the $20 Blue Diamond Enhanced Ceramic Non-Stick Pan disappointed each of the three times Elena Lamb, who lives in Florida, used it. In fighting the case, The Cookware Company noted that it gave customers a money-back or replacement warranty, but Lamb instead chose to throw the pan away and file a class action.
“That warranty is an express contract concerning the subject matter of Lamb’s claims, providing her with an adequate legal remedy,” Judge Louis Stanton wrote.
On June 15, Stanton dismissed most of Lamb’s claims. They were:
-Breach of express warranty;
-Breach of implied warranty of merchantability;
-Injunctive relief;
-Violation of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act; and
-Unjust enrichment.
However, Lamb adequately pled her claim under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, Stanton wrote.
“The complaint alleges that Cookware represented to Lamb (and other consumers in Florida and throughout the United States) on the Blue Diamond pan’s packaging label that the pan is non-stick,” Stanton wrote.
“Such statements are likely to mislead a reasonable consumer into believing that the pan is non-stick and that food will not stick to it during the cooking process.”
Lamb’s legal team, which includes Morgan & Morgan of Tampa, Fla., will now either wait for the case to be transferred to Florida or ask the court to keep it in New York.