U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Alker Meyer said that the issue of whether Poland Spring qualifies as “spring water” under the laws of several states has yet to be answered.
A Connecticut judge will not dismiss a lawsuit alleging that “Poland Spring” bottled water is deceptively labeled because its water does not actually come from a spring.
The lawsuit alleges that Nestle, the parent company and owner of Poland Spring, is thereby “breaching and exploiting its customers’ trust to reap massive undue sales and profits.”
According to the Portland Press Herald, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Alker Meyer on Monday released a 61-page ruling rejecting several claims detailed in the 2017 class-action lawsuit.
Among the claims rejected by Meyer was the class’s request for an injunction against the sale of Poland Spring-branded water. In his decision, Meyer contested the plaintiffs’ assertion that “they sometimes have no choice but to purchase [Poland Spring Water].”
“This is undoubtedly true in a limited sense: plaintiffs may sometimes enter a story thirsty, only to discover the [Poland Spring Water] is the only bottled water on offer,” Meyer wrote. “But it will very rarely be the case that a plaintiff needs [Poland Spring Water] as a matter of health or necessity.”
“Being thirsty,” he wrote, “is not usually an emergency, and it would be uncommon for a vendor to only have water, and only one variety thereof, available as a beverage. […] In short, plaintiffs have no shown that buying [Poland Spring Water] is an unavoidable reality.”
However, despite rejecting some of the class’s claims, Meyer said that the issue of whether Poland Spring qualifies as “spring water” under the laws of several states has yet to be answered.
“Plaintiffs … have produced evidence that consumers consider spring water to be more valuable than other water and have reasonably quantified that difference in value,” Meyer wrote in relation to the class’s series of New Jersey-related claims. “In a benefit-of-the-bargain case, that is enough at the summary judgment stage to create an issue of fact as to ascertainable loss.”
Nestle has repeatedly rejected the class’s claims, positing the lawsuit as an obvious cash-grab.
“The claims made in the lawsuit are without merit and an obvious attempt to manipulate the legal system for personal gain,” a Nestle Waters North America spokesperson told The Portland Press Herald in 2017. “Poland Spring is 100 percent spring water [….] We remain highly confident in our legal position.”
Meyer’s ruling emphasizes that, at this juncture, it is not yet apparent whether Poland Spring water constitutes “spring water” under the laws of the states of the class members involved in the claim.
Sources
Judge declines to dismiss false labeling and deceptive marketing claims against Poland Spring
Judge refuses to dismiss lawsuit claiming Poland Spring water is not from a spring
Lawsuit over Poland Spring’s ‘natural spring water’ label moves forward
Lawsuit says Poland Spring water is mislabeled because it really isn’t spring water
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