A federal district judge tossed one of the early class-action lawsuits filed over “forever chemicals” in consumer products, suggesting a rough road for other PFAS-related consumer fraud litigation.
Judge Nelson Román for the Southern District of New York dismissed an individual’s lawsuit claiming beverage giant Coca-Cola deceptively marketed its Simply Tropical juices as “all natural” even though they contain high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Joseph Lurenz, who brought the suit in December 2022 after independently testing the juice, “failed to show that he suffered an injury-in-fact,” Román wrote in an opinion filed Monday.
Román also took issue with Lurenz’s testing, which the judge said was based on “sparse factual allegations.” But he is allowing Lurenz to amend his complaint with more information by July 10.
