Category: U.S. Circuit Courts
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Nestlé Files Supply Chain Lawsuit in Lean Cuisine® Recall
Nestlé Prepared Foods Co. has filed a complaint against the suppliers of ingredients for its Lean Cuisine® frozen meals, which it was apparently forced to recall when it learned that some of the meals were contaminated with foreign, hard blue plastic pieces. Nestlé Prepared Foods Co. v. Nat’l Food Trading Corp., No. 10-1077 (D. Utah, filed…
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Menu Labeling Claims Under Prop. 65 Can Proceed in California
The California Supreme Court has denied a petition for review filed by fast food restaurants seeking to overturn an intermediate appellate court ruling allowing further proceedings on claims that they violated Proposition 65 by selling grilled chicken products to consumers without appropriate warnings about carcinogens created by the cooking process. Physicians Comm. for Responsible Med.…
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California Appellate Court Refuses to Certify Chipotle Employee Class Action
A California court of appeals has denied the request of a former Chipotle employee to certify a class of current and former non-managerial employees alleging that the company violated labor laws by denying them meal and rest breaks. Hernandez v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., No. B216004 (Cal. Ct. App., 2d Dist., modified opinion filed October…
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Second Circuit Dismisses Burn Claims Against Starbucks
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a district court’s dismissal of claims filed by a 76-year-old woman who alleged that she was seriously burned when trying to remove the lid from a cup of tea she purchased at Starbucks. Moltner v. Starbucks Coffee Co., No. 09-4943 (2d Cir., decided November 3, 2010). The court…
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Public Interest Group Seeks White House Documents on Scientific Integrity Policies
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) has filed a complaint in federal court under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), seeking documents from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) related to the development of policies to protect scientific integrity in federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the…
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Putative Class Alleges Breyers “All Natural” Ice Cream Contains Non-Natural Cocoa
A California resident has filed a putative class action against the company that owns the Breyers ice cream brand, alleging violations of consumer protection laws because its 23 chocolate-flavored products are labeled “All Natural” but also contain cocoa processed with alkali. Denmon-Clark v. Conopco, Inc., No. 10-7898 (C.D. Cal., filed October 20, 2010). According to the complaint,…
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Challenge to California’s Referendum Procedure Presented in Amicus Brief
According to a news source, an appellate lawyer in California has submitted an amicus brief to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, claiming that the state’s ballot initiative process, adopted 99 years ago, was improperly voted into law. He has asked the court to certify the question to the California Supreme Court. This issue arose…
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Pelman v. McDonald’s Corp.: No Class Certification for Obese Teens
A judge from the U.S. Court of International Trade, sitting by designation in a New York federal district court, has determined that the obesity-related claims filed in 2002 against McDonald’s Corp. cannot be pursued as a class action. Pelman v. McDonald’s Corp., No. 02-7821 (S.D.N.Y., decided October 27, 2010). Essentially, the court found that individual…