Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Tag: Florida

  • Data Breach Lawsuits Filed, Dismissed and Settled

    Brinker International Inc. faces a putative class action alleging hackers stole customers’ personally identifiable information (PII) from point-of-sale systems at Chili’s Grill & Bar in April and May 2018. Steinmetz v. Brinker Int’l, Inc, No. 18-0981 (D. Nev., filed May 30, 2018). The plaintiff seeks damages, an injunction and attorney’s fees for negligence and alleged…

  • Rose Acre Farms Sold Contaminated Eggs, Lawsuit Alleges

    A woman has filed a lawsuit alleging she was hospitalized after eating Salmonella-contaminated eggs from Rose Acre Farms Inc. Roberts v. Rose Acre Farms, Inc., No. 18-61082 (S.D. Fla., filed May 14, 2018). The plaintiff alleges that she purchased eggs packaged by Coburn Farms, a Sav-A-Lot Food Stores brand, and became ill enough to require two…

  • Florida Challenges Restaurant’s “Farm-To-Table” Claim

    The Florida attorney general has filed a lawsuit alleging Miami-based Icebox Cafe violated the state’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act by advertising its food and beverage items as locally sourced and “farm-to-table” while the ingredients were purchased from traditional commercial vendors. Office of the Attorney Gen. v. Icebox Cafe LC, No. __ (Fla. Cir. Ct., Miami-Dade…

  • Eleventh Circuit Reverses Jury Verdict in Contaminated Oyster Case

    Ruling that the jury instructions were misleading, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has reversed a jury verdict finding for a seafood restaurant in a lawsuit involving allegations of foodborne illness. Rhodes v. Lazy Flamingo 2 Inc., No. 17-11338 (M.D. Fla., entered March 29, 2018). The plaintiffs alleged negligence per se after…

  • Florida Magistrate Recommends Against Awarding Fees to Chipotle

    A Florida magistrate has recommended that a district court deny Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.’s motion for $1.5 million in attorney’s fees and costs after the company was granted summary judgment against claims that its advertising misled consumers into believing its food products only contained ingredients free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Reilly v. Chipotle Mexican…

  • Eleventh Circuit Denies Rehearing in Chipotle GMO Lawsuit

    The Eleventh Circuit has denied a petition for rehearing in a putative class action against Chipotle Mexican Grill alleging false advertising related to genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Reilly v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., No, 16-17461 (11th Cir., entered November 14, 2017). The appeals court previously denied the plaintiff’s appeal from the trial court’s entry of…

  • Florida Supreme Court Upholds Veto of Payments for Citrus-Tree Removals

    After years of litigation over whether Florida should reimburse residents whose healthy citrus trees were cut down in an effort to eradicate citrus canker, the Florida Supreme Court has upheld Gov. Rick Scott’s veto of $37.4 million appropriated by the state legislature that would have paid judgments to homeowners in two counties. Bogorff v. Scott,…

  • GMO Complaint Dismissed Against Tabatchnick Soups

    A complaint against the maker of Tabatchnick soups that alleged the company’s products could not be called “natural” because they contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has been voluntarily dismissed. Ramsaran v. Tabatchnick Fine Foods, Inc., No. 17-­60794 (S.D. Fla., dismissed June 9, 2017). The plaintiff had argued that he relied on the company’s “all natural”…