Publishers Clearinghouse Deceptive Sweepstakes Odds Suit Tossed

Publishers Clearing House Inc. won dismissal of a proposed class suit alleging it duped plaintiffs into thinking that buying its products would increase their sweepstakes chances, as a federal trial court in New York said no reasonable consumer would believe that.

Nor do the plaintiffs, non-New Yorkers, have standing to pursue their claims under the state’s consumer protection law, because their transactions with PCH lacked the law’s required connection to New York, the court said.

Earl Wright and others alleged that although no specific advertisement promised that buying a product from PCH would increase the chance of winning, the overall ...