Written by: Amie Alexander, JD/MPS Candidate, William H. Bowen School of Law
A class action complaint alleging deceptive marketing involving Kerrygold Products was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California on July 6, 2018. The Plaintiff in this action, Dyami Myers-Taylor, filed the complaint on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated against the Defendants, Ornua North America, Inc. and Ornua Co-operative Limited. Plaintiff claims that consumers were misled by labels that cattle producing the butter products were grass-fed, but were not actually exclusively grass-fed.
Plaintiff alleges that he and the Proposed Class would not have purchased or paid a price premium for Kerrygold Products if they had known that the representations, “Milk from Grass-fed Cows”, “Made with milk from grass-fed cows not treated with rBST or other growth hormones”, “All Natural”, and “100% Pure and Natural” were false, deceptive, and misleading. Plaintiff claims that Kerrygold Products such as salted butter and garlic and herb butter, for example, “derived from cows that are fed soy, corn and other grains, among other non-grass feed, including grains that are genetically modified, and are thus not ‘grass-fed’ as advertised.”
Plaintiff seeks to represent the following class and sub-class:
- All persons residing in the United States who purchased Kerrygold Products for personal use during the time period July 6, 2014, through the present.
- All persons residing in the State of California who purchased the Kerrygold Products primarily for personal, family or household purposes during the time period July 6, 2014, through the present.
Plaintiff alleges that the Defendants misled consumers into purchasing Kerrygold Products with false and misleading advertising. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges the Defendants violated the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, the California False Advertising Law, and the California Unfair Competition Law. Plaintiff also alleges on the following claims: breach of express warranty, breach of the implied warranty of merchantability, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation. You can read the complaint in its entirety here.