U.S. lawsuit over underfilled Junior Mints boxes is thrown out
01/08/2018 20:52
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, Aug 1 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Wednesday
dismissed a lawsuit claiming that Tootsie Roll Industries Inc
TR.N tricked consumers into overpaying for Junior Mints by
filling more than one-third of its candy boxes with empty space.
Biola Daniel and Abel Duran, from New York, and Trekeela
Perkins, from Mississippi, accused Tootsie Roll of defrauding
them because 35 percent to 43 percent of the boxes contained
mostly wasted air known as "slack-fill."
But in a 44-page decision, U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice
Buchwald in Manhattan found no fraud, saying "reasonable"
consumers could have determined the weight and the number of
candies from the packaging, and would expect some empty space.
"The law simply does not provide the level of coddling
plaintiffs seek," Buchwald wrote.
"Assuming that a reasonable consumer might ignore the
evidence plainly before him attributes to consumers a level of
stupidity that the court cannot countenance," she added.
Buchwald also refused to require fuller boxes because the
plaintiffs were unlikely to be misled again.
She also said their "annoyance at being unable to
confidently" buy Junior Mints did not justify damages in the
proposed class-action lawsuit.
The plaintiffs' lawyers did not immediately respond to
requests for comment.
Tootsie Roll, based in Chicago, had no immediate comment.
Slack-fill is the difference between a box's capacity and
the volume of the product it contains.
Federal law allows some slack-fill to protect a box's
contents, or when contents settle during shipping.
Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed in recent years over
slack-fill, with many in California and New York.
Junior Mints are small round chocolate candies with a mint
filling. They were introduced in 1949, and won attention in "The
Junior Mint," a 1993 episode of the TV show "Seinfeld."
The case is Daniel et al v Tootsie Roll Industries LLC, U.S.
District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 17-07541.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David
Gregorio)
((jon.stempel@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6317; Reuters
Messaging: jon.stempel.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))