Dynamic Accident Lawyers: Safeway Asks Court to Cut Allegations in Underfilled Tuna Class Action

safeway-chunk-light-tuna Safeway has asked the court to trim some of the allegations proposed in a class action lawsuit that accuses the grocery store chain of underfilling cans of store-brand tuna.

Plaintiff Ehder Soto of California claims that Safeway violated nine different state and federal laws by not filling the 5 ounce tuna cans with the required minimum of 2.84 ounces by weight.

However, Safeway wants three of the allegations dropped from the tuna class action lawsuit including breach of implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, negligent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment.

The grocery store chain told the court on Monday that the allegations of breach of implied warranty is unfounded considering that the Safeway class action lawsuit indicates that Soto ate the tuna as intended.

Safeway also argued that the negligent misrepresentation claim is blocked by California law and the unjust enrichment allegation is similar to other violations within the lawsuit.

While the Safeway tuna class action lawsuit states that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tested canned tuna and found that 106 out of 108 Safeway tuna cans to be lacking the federally mandated standards, Safeway contends that Soto doesn’t say whether the selected cans were randomly selected.

According to Safeway’s motion to dismiss, federal regulations do not require that every can is filled with at least 2.84 ounces but rather that this is the average based on 24 tested cans. Safeway argues that “by definition, some cans will contain less than, for example, 2.84 ounces of pressed tuna, while others will contain more.“

“Plaintiff’s alleged damages are purely economic losses. He does not allege that the tuna chunks in the cans were adulterated, or that he or others were bodily injured by them, or that the cans damaged some other property,” Safeway argued.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Edward M. Chen approved the Safeway class action lawsuit filed by Soto to merge with a similar complaint filed by plaintiff Heney Shihad.

The plaintiffs both have proposed to represent a Class of U.S. customers who purchased 5 ounce cans of Safeway Chunk Light Tuna in Water and Safeway Solid White Albacore Tuna in Water.

Safeway is not the only grocer to face claims of underfilling tuna cans. In January, a class action lawsuit was filed against Trader Joe’s over allegations that its store brand tuna is also underfilled by up to 24 percent less than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration mandated levels

Last summer, StarKist Co. agreed to pay $12 million in order to settle claims of underfilling cans of tuna.

Soto is represented by L. Timothy Fisher, Julia A. Luster and Scott A. Bursor of Bursor & Fisher PA.

The Safeway Tuna Class Action Lawsuit is Soto v. Safeway Inc., Case No. 3:15-cv-05078, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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