U.S. District Court for Eastern District of New York |

A federal judge in Trenton has ordered a New Jersey-based class action suit against Welch Foods Inc., maker of the popular Welch's fruit snacks that plaintiffs allege aren't as “natural” as advertised, must be moved to the Eastern District of New York.

U.S. District Judge Anne Thompson ordered the move on Oct. 5 after finding that nearly identical litigation has already been filed and is in discovery in the Eastern District.

“Although the causes of action on the New York litigation are under different state law … the nature of the issues, the relief sought, the products in question and the defendants all substantially overlap,” Thompson said in Hall v. Welch Foods.

“Plaintiff cannot maintain essentially the same litigation in two separate district courts, creating unnecessary burdens on the courts and risking the inefficiency and embarrassment of conflicting judgments,” Thompson said.

The lead plaintiff in the New Jersey case, Lauren Hall, is suing Welch Foods, based in Concord, Massachusetts, and one of its licensees, Promotion in Motion Companies, based in Media, Pennsylvania, over its fruit snacks. The lawsuit alleges breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, common-law fraud, violations of the state Consumer Fraud Act, unjust enrichment and violations of the state Truth in Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notification Act.

Hall says the companies falsely claimed that their snacks contained “significant amounts of natural fruit” and said that they were nutritious and healthy when they actually contained large amounts of artificial flavors and ingredients.

Hall initially filed her lawsuit in New Jersey Superior Court. Welch then moved the case to federal court based on diversity jurisdiction.

Thompson had two competing motions: One by Welch and PIM to move the case to the Eastern District, and another from Hall asking that it be remanded to the Superior Court.

Thompson said the case needed to be moved to the Eastern District so as not to waste judicial resources on essentially the same matter.

One of Hall's lawyers, Joshua Bauchner, said the firm was prepared to litigate the case in the Eastern District.

“The defendants can run, but they can't hide,” said Bauchner, of Ansell Grimm & Aaron in Woodland Park. “We will pursue claims against them wherever necessary.”

The lead attorney for Welch Foods and PIM, David King of the Newark office of Herrick Feinstein, said his clients were pleased with the ruling and are ready to proceed in the Eastern District.

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