Cinemark Fails to Shed Lawsuit Alleging Deceptive Beer Sizes

Nationwide movie theater chain Cinemark USA Inc. must continue to defend a proposed class action in federal court alleging it misrepresents the size of beer sold in its theaters.

The US District Court in the Eastern District of Texas found Tuesday that the plaintiff, Shane Waldrop, had established minimal diversity of the parties for purposes of federal jurisdiction, because he alleged that Cinemark deceived consumers nationwide. But Waldrop must do more to sufficiently allege that the amount in controversy satisfies the Class Action Fairness Act, Judge Amos L. Mazzant said.

Waldrop filed suit claiming the supposedly 24-ounce beer he had purchased at a Cinemark in Grapevine, Tex., only contained 22 ounces. Waldrop alleges Cinemark violated the Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, used negligent misrepresentation, committed common law fraud, breached an express warranty, and benefited from unjust enrichment.

Cinemark filed a motion to dismiss the case, saying there was no diversity between the parties, because they were both from Texas. Finding that the class likely included individuals from other states, the judge denied Cinemark’s motion.

However, the judge found that Waldrop had not sufficiently alleged that the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million, the threshold for federal class action jurisdiction under CAFA. Because Waldrop has not specified or even “ballparked” the class size, and only says that a nationwide class of thousands suffered what may be a small amount of damages, the judge agreed with Cinemark that the allegations were too conclusory.

The judge gave Waldrop 14 days to amend his complaint “with facts reasonably supporting a sufficient amount in controversy.” Then the court will be able to address Cinemark’s other substantive legal challenges, the opinion said.

Waldrop is represented by Ellzey & Associates PLLC and Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr PC. Cinemark is represented by Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP.

The case is Waldrop v. Cinemark USA, Inc., E.D. Tex., No. 4:24-cv-00321, 6/24/25.