Starbucks iced drinks obviously include ice, judge says, tossing lawsuit

A lawsuit that accused Starbucks Corp. of misrepresenting the sizes of its iced drinks has been dismissed by a California judge, who issued a written tongue-lashing of the plaintiff’s claims.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of plaintiff Alexander Forouzesh in federal district court in California’s Central District, argued that the Seattle-based company misled customers about the size of its iced drinks because it lists their sizes as the liquid volume of drink and ice combined, not the drink alone.

In dismissing the case last week, U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson said that a “reasonable consumer” would know that the stated volume of an iced drink includes the ice.

“As young children learn, they can increase the amount of beverage they receive if they order ‘no ice,’” the judge said.

“If children have figured out that including ice in a cold beverage decreases the amount of liquid they will receive, the court has no difficulty concluding that a reasonable consumer would not be deceived,” he said.

The customer, he said, would understand “that when they order an iced tea, that the drink they receive will include both ice and tea and that for a given size cup, some portion of the drink will be ice rather than whatever liquid beverage the consumer ordered.”

Starbucks said in a statement that it was “pleased with the court’s decision and the judge’s comments on the matter.”

A similar lawsuit in Chicago, filed in May, is still pending. Attorneys for Starbucks have until Thursday to file a motion to dismiss the case. The lead attorney representing the coffee giant in the case was not immediately available to comment.

sbomkamp@chicagotribune.com

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