By: Christie McGuinness and Winifred E. Campbell, Esq.

Nothing embodies the season of fall more than Homecoming football games, Halloween, and pumpkin picking. Well, maybe with the exception of Starbucks’ infamous Pumpkin Spice Latte. A season staple of the coffee mega house, it is something many Americans look forward to, and it has become a pseudo symbol of fall’s official arrival. Starbucks has also added specialty lattes for the Christmas season, such as its Egg Nog Latte.

However, some Americans started to notice a change in their lattes. They seemed to be getting smaller, and the lattes never seemed to be filled properly. This is the crux of the class action lawsuit brought in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against Starbucks alleging, in sum and substance, that the company routinely under-pours its lattes, denying the customer the full value of what they paid for.

In creative lawyering, the lawyers for the plaintiffs are alleging a breach of an express warranty. In simpler terms, when someone buys a drink from Starbucks, Starbucks is guaranteeing (i.e., warranting) that the drink contains a certain amount of liquid depending on the size of the drink the customer purchases. As the complaint outlines, “…Starbucks represents that its Lattes contain “12 fl. oz.” for a Tall, “16 fl. oz.” for a Grande, and “20 fl. oz.” for a Venti.” (Complaint at ¶ 1). The complaint alleges that “[b]y underfilling its lattes, thereby shortchanging its customers, Starbucks has saved countless millions of dollars in the cost of goods sold and was unjustly enriched by taking payment for more product than it delivers.” (Complaint at ¶4). Starbucks will have to demonstrate that it did not breach any warranties and that its standardized recipe for lattes ensures the proper fluid ounces are being served to its customers.

Starbucks countered the complaint with a motion to dismiss. Its legal counsel argued that Starbucks customers received what they paid for: a latte which consists of three essential ingredients, all three ingredients were in the lattes, and the fluid ounces are not as ‘standardized’ as plaintiffs contend because each latte is hand-crafted by the baristas. (Motion to Dismiss at Page 13).
In a Court Order issued on June 17th 2016, the Honorable Thelton E. Henderson, stated that plaintiffs had plead sufficiently a cause of action for breach of an express warranty and the proper way to measure coffee drinks is an issue of fact that is most appropriately addressed by a jury. (Court Order at Page 6). We will wait and see if Starbucks can convince a jury that it serves up its lattes right.