Monster Energy

July 2016: The Ninth Circuit revived some of the claims in this lawsuit finding that they were not preempted and the FDA did not have primary jurisdiction over them. Other claims, including those regarding the caffeine content within the drinks, were not revived. To learn more about the Court’s decision, click here.

November 2013: A federal judge dismissed a class-action lawsuit filed against Monster Beverage Corp. last year. The judge dismissed the complaint, which is explained below, for several reasons. Among them, the Court explained that the plaintiffs did not provide enough details in their complaint about Monster’s alleged misrepresentations and how, or even if, the plaintiffs relied on those deceptive statements. The Court also found that certain claims, such as “hydrates like a sports drink,” were “non-actionable puffery,” meaning that they were too vague and subjective to be part of the lawsuit. For the full (long and technical) order of dismissal, click here.

December 2012: A class-action lawsuit was filed against Monster Beverage Corp. in December 2012 alleging that the company fraudulently labels its energy drinks as supplements so that it doesn’t have to comply with FDA beverage regulations. The complaint also alleges that the energy drinks contain a dangerous amount of caffeine without warning about the dangers of frequent or excessive caffeine consumption, and that they are falsely marketed as able to “hydrate like a sports drinks” when, in reality, the drinks can cause severe dehydration. (Fisher v. Monster Beverage Corp. et al., Case No. 12-cv-02188)

For more information about other class-action lawsuits against Monster Beverage Corp. and TINA.org’s coverage of the company, click here.