PENSACOLA, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - No reasonable consumer would be tricked by a green bottle into thinking the water inside contained more lime than what was listed on the ingredients list, a federal judge has ruled in rejecting a class action lawsuit.
Judge M. Casey Rodgers, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, ruled for Nestle on Feb. 1 in plaintiff Nancy McCoy's lawsuit over lime-flavored Perrier-brand sparkling water.
Rodgers is one of the latest judges to reject the novel theories of plaintiff lawyer Spencer Sheehan, who alleged the green bottle and pictures of lime wedges on the label led consumers to believe they were getting more lime than they actually did.
The decision grants Nestle's motion to dismiss, and Rodgers found the allegations failed the "reasonable consumer" test.
"McCoy has failed to plausibly allege that a consumer acting reasonably would conclude that the product contains an appreciable amount of lime such that its labeling and packaging is misleading," Rodgers ruled.
"Here... the label's use of the word 'lime' and depiction of lime wedges represents only that the product is lime flavored. The label does not state 'made with lime' or use other language conveying that the product includes lime or lime juice."
Sheehan is well-known in class action circles for the prolific amount of cases he has filed over novel theories of consumer deception that have sometimes angered judges. He's even been sued by one of his targets for naming it as defendant even though it had no connection to the case.
McCoy alleged Nestle's labeling is misleading because the product does not contain "an appreciable amount" of lime and lacks lime-flavored compounds. She also alleges the product's name sold under the "esteemed" Perrier brand and imported from France gives consumers a false belief and she claims Nestle knew the "product attributes" that customers seek and developed its marketing and labeling to meet those desires with only a minimal amount of actual fruit ingredients in the sparkling water.
Rodgers noted that the back label on the bottle says "CONTAINS NO JUICE."