On September 10, 2020, Southern California federal court Judge M. James Lorenz declined a motion to dismiss putative class claims against One Brands, alleging that the defendant, a subsidiary of Hershey Co., intentionally misled consumers as to the true ingredients in its popular protein bars.In the complaint, originally filed in January 2020, named plaintiff Brittany Sebastian alleges that reasonable consumers purchased the defendant’s protein bars based on the belief that the product’s label contains accurate nutritional information. The plaintiff further argues that consumers would not have purchased the defendant’s protein bars, had they been aware of the misrepresentations that the average bar contained 40% more sugar, 96% more cholesterol and 96% less dietary fiber than the label represented.
In its bid to dismiss the suit, the defendant argued that the plaintiff failed to allege unjust benefit, asserting that the plaintiff bought the protein bar but made no allegation that the product did not perform as expected or advertised. The court, however, was unpersuaded. The defendant also attempted to dismiss the suit by claiming that the plaintiff failed to allege the existence of an express warranty. The Court rejected this argument holding that the plaintiff adequately alleged that the defendant, through its advertising and labeling, created express warranties that the products contained the amount of sugar, cholesterol and dietary fiber as represented.
The case is: Brittany Sebastian v. One Brands LLC, Case No.: 3:20-cv-00009, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
Counsel Financial provides working capital credit lines exclusively for the plaintiffs' bar in all states except California, where credit lines are issued by California Attorney Lending.
