A federal court is giving a second chance to a lawsuit alleging that a Florida sugar giant deceived consumers through a “greenwashing” campaign that claims its products help prevent climate change.
In a ruling Monday, Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California gave the lead challenger in the case until Jan. 9 to submit a revised class-action complaint — even as the judge partially granted Florida Crystals’ motion to dismiss an earlier version of the lawsuit.
Macy Merrell, a Florida Crystals customer and the lead plaintiff in the case, had alleged that although the company touts itself as the “country’s most environmentally conscious and climate-friendly sugar company,” its practice of burning sugarcane before harvest does not protect the environment or climate.
But van Keulen said Monday that an opposition brief Merrell filed to counter Florida Crystals’ bid to reject the lawsuit “disavows or at least blurs” arguments Merrell previously made in an earlier amended complaint.
