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Case 3:16-cv-04958-WHO Document 163 Filed 06/28/19 Page 1 of 32 1 FAEGRE BAKER DANIELS LLP TARIFA B. LADDON (SBN 240419) 2 [email protected] 11766 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 750 3 Los Angeles, CA 90025 Telephone: +1.310.500.2090 4 Facsimile: +1.310.500.2091 5 SARAH L. BREW (admitted pro hac vice) [email protected] 6 AARON D. VAN OORT (admitted pro hac vice) [email protected] 7 NATHANIEL J. ZYLSTRA (admitted pro hac vice) [email protected] 8 NICHOLAS J. NELSON (admitted pro hac vice) [email protected] 9 EMILY R. ZAMBRANA (admitted pro hac vice) [email protected] 10 90 South Seventh Street, Suite 2200 Minneapolis, MN 55402-3901 11 Telephone: +1.612.766.7000 Facsimile: +1.612.766.1600 12 Attorneys for Defendant Post Foods, LLC 13 14 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 15 DEBBIE KROMMENHOCK and STEPHEN Case No. 3:16-CV-04958-WHO 16 HADLEY, on behalf of themselves, all others Hon. William H. Orrick similarly situated, and the general public, 17 Plaintiffs, Hearing Date: October 9, 2019 18 Time: 2:00 p.m. v. 19 POST FOODS, LLC, Action Filed: August 29, 2016 20 Defendant. Trial Date: None Set 21 22 POST FOODS, LLC’S NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT 23 24 25 26 27 28 POST FOODS, LLC’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT Case No. 3:16-cv-04958-WHO Case 3:16-cv-04958-WHO Document 163 Filed 06/28/19 Page 2 of 32 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES TO BE DECIDED ....................................................................... 1 3 PRELIMINARY STATEMENT ....................................................................................................... 1 4 STATEMENT OF RELEVANT FACTS ......................................................................................... 2 5 A. Post makes many breakfast cereals with varying nutrition and flavor profiles. .......................................................................................................... 2 6 B. Plaintiffs and their claims. ............................................................................. 3 7 C. It is undisputed that each of the challenged statements was actually 8 true. ................................................................................................................ 4 9 D. The mainstream scientific view is that consuming pre-sweetened, nutrient-dense breakfast cereals like Post’s challenged cereals 10 improves people’s diets. ................................................................................ 6 11 E. Plaintiffs’ experts concede that their view of sugar is a minority viewpoint ....................................................................................................... 8 12 ARGUMENT ................................................................................................................................. 10 13 I. Plaintiffs Cannot Censor Or Punish Post’s Truthful, Non-misleading Speech 14 About The Ingredients and Attributes Of Its Cereals. ............................................. 10 15 A. Plaintiffs’ claims are subject to constitutional review, and they bear the burden of proving that Post’s speech is misleading under the 16 constitutional standard. ................................................................................ 11 17 B. Post’s challenged statements truthfully address its cereals’ characteristics without addressing the healthiness of added sugar; 18 this is valuable, protected speech. ............................................................... 13 19 C. The state cannot censor an alleged message that Post’s cereals are “healthy” despite containing added sugar because mainstream 20 science supports that view. .......................................................................... 17 21 II. Several Of Plaintiffs’ Remaining Claims Are Preempted By Federal Law. ........... 19 22 III. Plaintiffs Lack Evidence Entitling Them To Any Remedy. ................................... 22 23 A. Plaintiffs do not have standing to seek injunctive relief. ............................ 22 24 B. Plaintiffs lack evidence to support money relief. ........................................ 23 25 IV. Post Is Entitled To Judgment Against Plaintiffs’ Claim For Punitive Damages. ................................................................................................................. 24 26 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................... 25 27 28 i POST’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT Case No. 3:16-cv-04958-WHO Case 3:16-cv-04958-WHO Document 163 Filed 06/28/19 Page 3 of 32 1 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES 2 Page(s) FEDERAL CASES 3 44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island, 4 517 U.S. 484 (1996) .............................................................................................................13, 14 5 Alliance for Natural Health US v. Sebelius, 6 714 F. Supp. 2d 48 .....................................................................................................................18 7 Alliance for Natural Health US v. Sebelius, 786 F. Supp. 2d 1 (D.D.C. 2011) ...............................................................................................18 8 Ass’n of Nat. Advertiers, Inc. v. Lungren, 9 44 F.3d 726 (9th Cir. 1994) ........................................................................................................11 10 Ass’n of Nat’l Advertisers v. Lungren, 809 F. Supp. 747 (N.D. Cal. 1992) ............................................................................................12 11 12 Bates v. State Bar of Ariz., 433 U.S. 350 (1977) ...................................................................................................................13 13 Bioganic Safety Brands v. Ament, 14 174 F. Supp. 2d 1168 (D. Colo. 2001) .......................................................................................11 15 Caldera v. J.M. Smucker Co., 2014 WL 1477400 (C.D. Cal. Apr. 15, 2014) ............................................................................24 16 Central Hudson Gas & Elec. Corp. v. Pub. Serv. Comm’n of N.Y., 17 447 U.S. 557 (1980) ...................................................................................................................13 18 Clapper v. Amnesty Int’l USA, 19 568 U.S. 398 (2013) ...................................................................................................................22 20 Cordes v. Boulder Brands USA, Inc., 2018 WL 6714323 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 17, 2018) ............................................................................23 21 Davidson v. Kimberly-Clark Corp., 22 889 F.3d 956 (9th Cir. 2018) ................................................................................................22, 23 23 Duagin v. City of Oxford, 24 718 F.2d 738 (5th Cir. 1983) ................................................................................................13, 14 25 Edenfield v. Fane, 507 U.S. 761 (1993) .............................................................................................................16, 17 26 Express Oil Change, L.L.C. v. Miss. Bd. of Licensure for Prof’l Eng’rs & 27 Surveyors, 28 916 F.3d 483 (5th Cir. 2019) ......................................................................................................12 ii POST’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT Case No. 3:16-cv-04958-WHO Case 3:16-cv-04958-WHO Document 163 Filed 06/28/19 Page 4 of 32 Guido v. L’Oreal, USA, Inc., 1 2013 WL 3353857 (C.D. Cal. July 1, 2013) ..............................................................................24 2 Hadley v. Kellogg Sales Co., 3 273 F. Supp. 3d 1052 (N.D. Cal. 2017) .....................................................................................21 4 Ibanez v. Fla. Dep’t of Bus. & Prof’l Regulation, Bd. of Accountancy, 512 U.S. 136 (1994) ...................................................................................................................12 5 In re ConAgra Foods, Inc., 6 302 F.R.D. 537 (C.D. Cal. 2014) ...............................................................................................23 7 In re Quaker Oats Labeling Litig., 8 2012 WL 1034532 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 28, 2012) ...........................................................................21 9 In re R. M. J., 455 U.S. 191 (1982) ...................................................................................................................11 10 In re Santa Fe Nat. Tobacco Co. Mktg. & Sales Pracs & Prod. Liab. Litig., 11 288 F. Supp. 3d 1087 (D.N.M. 2017) ........................................................................................11 12 In re Yahoo! Inc. Customer Data Sec. Breach Litig., 13 313 F. Supp. 3d 1113 (N.D. Cal. 2018) .....................................................................................24 14 International Dairy Foods Ass’n v. Boggs, 622 F.3d 628 (6th Cir. 2010) ......................................................................................................18 15 Khachatryan v. Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc., 16 2009 WL 9537648 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 28, 2009) ............................................................................24 17 Lindsey v. Costco Wholesale Corp., 18 2016 WL 8729926 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 12, 2016) (Orrick, J.) ..........................................................5 19 Miller v. Fuhu Inc., 2015 WL 7776794 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 1, 2015) .............................................................................24 20 N.Y. Times Co. v. Sullivan, 21 376 U.S. 254 (1964) ...................................................................................................................11