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Federal judge cuts Fannie May slack in lawsuit

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Fannie May

Forrest Gump once said life is like a box of chocolates — you never know what you are going to get.

But one Chicago couple was so disappointed in a purchased box of Fannie May chocolates that they filed a lawsuit in federal court, “proving that almost anything can give rise to litigation,” a federal judge wrote in an appellate ruling Monday, dismissing the suit.

Clarisha Benson and Lorenzo Smith “were dismayed to find that the boxes were not brimming with goodies. Far from it: the boxes appeared to be only about half full,” according to documents in Clarisha Benson, et. al. v. Fannie May Confections Brands Inc., filed in the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals of the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, in Chicago. 

“Believing that they had been duped, they sued Fannie May on behalf of themselves and a putative class, alleging violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act…  and asserting claims for unjust enrichment and breach of implied contract,” documents state.

A federal district court granted Fannie May’s motion to dismiss the complaint, finding that the plaintiffs “had not adequately pleaded a violation of the (federal) Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and that the FDCA preempted their state-law claims.”

Affirming the dismissal, yet on other grounds, the appeals court ruled that the couple had failed to “state a claim” in their allegations of violation of state law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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