“Allowing a suit of this type to proceed on this basis would basically open the door to enabling any purchaser of any consumable product to file a lawsuit simply saying, ‘I bought product X, and it contains microplastics’ … and thereby get a past a motion to dismiss and into discovery and class certification proceedings,” wrote U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly.
Bringing a consumer protection suit to a grinding halt, a federal judge in Illinois this week dismissed a putative class action targeting Fiji Water’s parent company and its alleged misrepresentations that the product is “natural.”
In a Monday opinion, U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly for the Northern District of Illinois granted The Wonderful Co.’s motion to dismiss a putative class action claiming Fiji Water is misrepresented as “natural” because it contains microplastics. Kennelly determined the plaintiffs didn’t have standing to bring the suit, finding their allegations were insufficient to give rise to a plausible claim for relief.
