MIAMI (Legal Newsline) - A class action plaintiff who says he expected more honey and lemon in lozenges that contain those flavors is not being reasonable, Publix is arguing.
The grocery store chain filed a motion to dismiss Heriberto Valiente's lawsuit on Jan. 17 in Miami federal court. Valentie's lawyers, Will Wright of West Palm Beach and Spencer Sheehan of New York, says customers purchase lemon products because of their nutritional benefits.
But the lozenges only contained "natural and artificial flavors" to produce the lemon flavor, which Valiente would have known if he'd read the ingredients, Publix says.
"(N)o reasonable consumer would read this product's label in the manner alleged by Plaintiff to mean the product contained some unidentified 'non-de minimus' amount of real lemon as an ingredient rather than lemon flavor," the motion says.
"After all, the label's list of ingredients does not include lemon."
Publix calls the plaintiff's argument a "result-driven interpretation" that is not a fair reading of the label.
"In any event, Plaintiff does not allege he used the product, much less that it caused him a physical injury," the motion says. "While he contends the product was 'worth less' than what he paid, he does not allege that the product failed to provide the intended cough suppressant and oral anesthetic benefits."
The package of the lozenges shows a lemon cut in half. Sheehan has sued hundreds of defendants over claims products were marketed on the front of packaging as containing certain ingredients that they actually didn't have.
The suit says customers would not have purchased the product or would not have paid as much if they had not been misled into thinking the cough drops would have more lemon ingredients.