OCALA, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - Big Lots has fended off the class action lawsuit claiming it miscounted how many servings its ground coffee makes.
The company called out lawyer Spencer Sheehan for filing the case in Florida federal court after his theory was rejected in New York. Sheehan's plaintiffs claimed the Fresh Finds brand coffee claimed to make up to 210 suggested strength 6 oz. servings but actually didn't.
But courts have found those plaintiffs didn't pay enough attention to other serving instructions on the package. For instance, making one serving at a time takes proportionally more coffee grounds than making large servings.
"Reasonable consumers do not perceive 'up to' statements like those on this product as a guarantee because their plain meaning clearly establishes 'a ceiling, not a floor,'" Judge Gregory Pressnell wrote March 26.
"Indeed, even Plaintiff recognizes in her response that her complaint does not allege that the 'up to 210' servings language guaranteed that the number of cups would be reached."
Pressnell called it "patently implausible" that a reasonable consumer would be deceived.
It's another loss for Sheehan, who has filed hundreds of consumer deception class actions that have angered some judges.
This month, he lost a case over Mrs. Smith's pie crust said to be made with real butter and another over flavored Alka-Seltzer Plus cold and flu products. He also recently lost a case claiming lime-flavored Perrier drinkers were tricked by green bottles.
One judge has called him a "wrecking ball" and another in New York is currently considering what punishment he will receive after being held in contempt.
"In this case, Mr. Sheehan has not only filed a baseless lawsuit, but he has re-filed baseless mislabeling claims that (the New York judge) already held were not misleading as a matter of law, and dismissed with prejudice," Big Lots said in its motion to dismiss.
"The only difference here: Mr. Sheehan found a new plaintiff (Peggy Durant), and tries his luck with a new venue (Florida)."