Federal Court Rules Gorton's Seafood False Advertising Class Action May Proceed

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Aug 30, 2022, 09:23 ET

Gorton's "sustainably sourced" claims on tilapia products plausibly mislead consumers

BOSTON, Aug. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts has denied Gorton's, Inc.'s motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit against the seafood company. The complaint, filed by two consumers in April, alleges that Gorton's deceptively markets its frozen tilapia products as "sustainably sourced," which leads consumers to believe that the tilapia were farmed in accordance with high environmental and animal welfare standards. In reality, the complaint alleges, Gorton's tilapia are sourced at least in part from China, a country of origin from which the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch recommends avoiding tilapia.

In China, according to the complaint, tilapia farming methods include the ecologically dangerous production known as "pond aquaculture," in which thousands of fish are crowded into shallow ponds. Pond cultivation occurs in flood-vulnerable regions, and diseases and escaped tilapia can spread from the ponds into the local environment during floods. The complaint further alleges that barren pond environments have a negative impact on tilapia welfare, as the fishes experience frustration and boredom that leads to abnormal, repetitive behaviors. The complaint alleges that harmful antibiotics and biocides are frequently used on these farms to enable the tilapia to survive in these stressful, crowded, and unsanitary conditions.

Judge Patti B. Saris allowed the lawsuit to continue despite a "friend of the court" brief filed on behalf of Gorton's by the Global Seafood Alliance, an industry trade group, and the New England Aquarium, which receives funding from Gorton's. The opinion states: "Plaintiffs do assert a plausible (albeit hotly disputed) claim that Gorton's tilapia are sourced, in part, from unsustainable Chinese fish farms with 'environmentally destructive and inhumane' practices."

The plaintiffs are Jeffrey Spindel and Kevin McCarthy, consumer purchasers of Gorton's tilapia, on behalf of themselves and all others in a similar situation. The plaintiffs are represented by Richman Law & Policy. They seek relief for class members in the form of damages and restitution.

This is the second recent success for consumers in class actions regarding "sustainable" seafood claims. In May, a judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois denied ALDI, Inc.'s motion to dismiss a complaint alleging false and misleading "sustainable" marketing of Atlantic salmon sourced at least in part from fish farms in Chile that use net pen aquaculture to crowd thousands of fish into cages or "pens" in natural waterways.

SOURCE Richman Law & Policy