Santa Clara, CA: Monsanto is facing a consumer fraud class action lawsuit filed by consumers who allege the chemical company lied about the quantities of herbicide in the concentrated formulas of Roundup.
Filed by Elizabeth Martin, the lawsuit asserts that Monsanto effectively cheated its customers out of roughly half of the Roundup weed killer that customers thought they were purchasing with concentrated formulas.
In her complaint, Martin alleges the advertising on the labels of Roundup concentrate state that when diluted, the solution in the 32-ounce bottle will end up making 10 gallons of herbicide, matching the company’s ready-to-use formula output.
However, the 32-ounce bottle of concentrated formula makes about five gallons of weed killer when diluted with water according to the label’s instructions, Martin contends in her filing.
“Monsanto’s conduct with respect to the labeling, advertising, and sale of the Roundup Concentrates was unfair because Monsanto’s conduct was immoral, unethical, unscrupulous, or substantially injurious to consumers and the utility of its conduct, if any, does not outweigh the gravity of the harm to its victims,” the lawsuit states.
The complaint asserts that the concentrated formula labels state in a chart that the produce “makes up to” a certain amount of herbicide when mixed with water. Deeper in the instructions, the company claims that more water than the best recommended amount can be used, which may help the customer reach that ceiling amount of product.
Martin seeks to represent a class of buyers of the concentrated formulas of Roundup who, she claims, were the subjects of consumer fraud because they believed the allegedly false information printed on the product label.
Martin is alleging that Monsanto is in violation of the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and California laws including the Unfair Competition Law, Consumer Legal Remedies Act and False Advertising Law.
Martin is represented by Jack Fitzgerald, Trevor M. Flynn and Melanie Persinger of The Law Office of Jack Fitzgerald PC and Sidney W. Jackson III of Jackson & Foster LLC.
The case is Elizabeth Martin v. Monsanto Co., case number 5:16-cv-02168, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
