NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – With only a single claim left, a proposed class action lawsuit over the stickiness of an as-seen-on-TV frying pan is limping off to Florida.
New York federal judge Louis Stanton, after dismissing all claims except those on behalf of Florida residents, asked the parties in the case to show cause why the case shouldn’t be send to that state. Three weeks passed and no one responded, so on July 9 it transferred the case to Florida’s Middle District.
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 includes Morgan & Morgan of Tampa, the law firm that recently took at least $12 million in taxpayer-funded forgivable loans while increasing its television spending.