NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – Before a federal judge could decide whether it was fraud to call a snack “potato skins,” the remaining sides in a proposed class action lawsuit have settled.
After New York federal judge Katherine Polk Failla dismissed Utz and TGI Friday’s as defendants, plaintiff Solange Troncoso and lawyers at Lee Litigation Group reached a confidential agreement with Inventure Foods, which makes a chip-like snack marketed as potato skins using the TGI Friday’s trademark.
Troncoso’s lawsuit said the snack contained no potato skins, only potato flakes. She said because of the packaging and because TGI Friday’s sells a potato skin appetizer at its restaurants, she was led to believe the snacks would contain real potato skins.
Failla in July rejected most of her claims but allowed her to pursue common law fraud allegations against Inventure.
Troncoso plausibly alleged reasonable consumers would believe the snacks contain potato peels, Failla ruled.
“Plaintiff has satisfactorily alleged a nexus between a lack of potato peels and the snack chips in question,” the ruling says.
TGI Friday’s was dismissed because it merely licensed its name and Utz was dismissed because it is only Inventure’s parent company.
Troncoso sued in March 2019, making several consumer protection claims as well as a request for injunctive relief that would prevent Inventure from marketing the product as potato skins.
Judge Failla found Troncoso lacks standing to pursue injunctive relief.
“Plaintiff failed to allege an intent to purchase the snack chips in the future, and therefore she has not established a likelihood of future injury sufficient to show standing,” she ruled.
The settlement was reached before a class was ever certified, meaning Troncoso and her lawyers will keep the entirety of whatever dollar amount was agreed to.