Starbucks Coffee False-Ad Suit Axed, Plaintiff’s Lawyer Rebuked

A Starbucks Corp. consumer’s proposed class suit challenging the label of “100% Arabica Coffee” has been thrown out by a federal judge in New York, who said he is considering sanctions against the plaintiff’s attorney for filing “frivolous” lawsuits.

No reasonable consumer would think the “100% Arabica Coffee” descriptor on Starbucks French Roast ground coffee means only coffee and no additives, Judge Fredrick J. Scullin Jr. of the US District Court for the Northern District of New York said.

Kristie Brownell alleged the coffee isn’t actually 100% ground coffee because it contains more potassium than would be expected, posing a ...