BROOKLYN, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) - Class action lawyers are attempting to stretch "the bounds of liability beyond reason," the maker of Nantucket Nectars says.
Keurig Dr Pepper filed on Nov. 6 in New York federal court filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging consumers are misled by "All Natural Ingredients" claims because chemicals known as PFAS are present in bottles.
Litigation over PFAS is sprawling. Some lawyers scored government clients on contingency fees and stand to earn hundreds of millions in fees from settlements with 3M and DuPont.
Class action lawyers have filed dozens of cases too with similar consumer-deception allegations to the Nantucket Nectars suit. PFAS are found in firefighting foam, consumer products and the bodies of virtually every American.
PFAS lawsuits blame the chemicals for a variety of health problems, some of which were linked by a health study that was part of a settlement with DuPont. But others say the science on how PFAS affect the human body is incomplete.
KDP says the plaintiff suing it, Timothy Walker, fails to allege KDP added PFAS as an ingredient and says Walker's position he was misled by the "all natural" claims would result from a guarantee that every bottle will make it to consumers free of trace level of "common environmental contaminants."
"That untenable position stretches the bounds of liability beyond reason," the motion says.
Among its claims for dismissal, KDP argues Walker and his lawyers fail to plausibly allege any of the nine Nantucket Nectars products cited in the complaint contains PFAS or that the bottles he purchased contained PFAS.
It also says a reasonable consumer would not feel every bottle is 100% free of environmental contaminants.
"As to his omission theory, Plaintiff identifies no law or regulation requiring KDP to disclose the presence of PFAS, because none exists," the motion says, adding it complied with federal labeling laws.
Walker is represented by attorneys from The Sultzer Law Group and Millberg Coleman Bryson Phillips. KDP is represented by Pieter Van Tol and other lawyers at the firm Hogan Lovells.