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Michelle Garabetian

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Michelle Garabetian is an associate in the Business Trial Practice Group in the firm's Los Angeles office.

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The jury in the Banks v. R.C. Bigelow, Inc. litigation has returned its verdict, awarding consumers $2.3 million – short of the $3.26 million that plaintiffs’ counsel had requested. The Banks litigation challenged Bigelow’s “Manufactured in the USA 100%” claim used on some of its tea packaging. Plaintiffs argued that the claim was false because the company imported its tea; however the company’s position in the litigation was that the claim referred to the US-based facilities where the teas were blended and packaged. Notably, due to an earlier-issued summary judgment order from the judge (finding that the challenged claim was literally false), the only questions before the jury were the amount of damages and whether there was intentional conduct by the company supporting an award of punitive damages. While the jury awarded compensatory damages, it did not find that there was proof sufficient to support a punitive damages award by clear and convincing evidence.Continue Reading Bigelow Jury Verdict Could Increase Challenges To “Made In USA” Labels

Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) introduced a new online resource called the Chemical Contaminants Transparency Tool (CCT Tool) which allows the public to search for information about different chemical contaminants that may be found in human food. This online, searchable database provides a consolidated list of contaminant levels such as tolerances, action levels, and guidance levels used to evaluate potential health risks in human foods. This tool is part of the FDA’s efforts to modernize food chemical safety and has been launched as part of the administration’s Make America Healthy Again initiative.Continue Reading FDA’s New Transparency Tool Addresses Chemical Contaminants

In Lytle v. Nutramax Laboratories, Inc., 114 F.4th 1011 (9th Cir.), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals addressed two key issues arising in motions for class certification: (1) whether plaintiffs’ proposed unexecuted damages model is sufficient at the class certification stage; and (2) whether plaintiffs adequately demonstrated reliance was provable by common evidence.Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Addresses Damages Models In Lytle v. Nutramax Labs., Inc. Decision