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Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Four Loko Maker Wins 2nd Shot At Nixing Wrongful Death Suit
Posted by:
Still Going
()
Date: October 28, 2013 06:06PM
An Illinois appeals court ruled Friday that a lower court needed to reconsider whether Illinois is a better venue for a wrongful death lawsuit against the maker of the caffeinated alcoholic beverage Four Loko than Virginia, giving the company another shot at dismissal. Plaintiffs John and Karla Rupp sued Four Loko maker Phusion Projects LLC and a host of other defendants in Illinois state court over the death of their son John. The boy died at the age of 15 after he was hit by a car, allegedly as a result of wandering onto a Virginia highway while drunk on Four Loko.
A three-judge panel reversed a trial court's rejection of a dismissal motion filed by Phusion and other defendants. The motion was based on the doctrine of forum non conveniens, which holds that a court can toss a suit that it believes would be more appropriately held in another venue. The trial court had rejected the defendants' contention that the case should be heard in Virginia.
While it agreed with much of the trial court's analysis, the appeals court held that the practical considerations that make a trial easy, expeditious and inexpensive should be revisited.
The trial court should consider the choice of law issue — whether Virginia or Illinois state law applies in the case — when it weighs which venue is favored by the public interest, the panel said.
The lower court erred when it ruled that City Brewing Co. LLC, the company that brewed, bottled and labeled the Four Loko, and Synergy Flavors Inc., another defendant, were not a part of the dismissal motion, according to the panel. Synergy would be subject to jurisdiction in Virginia, it said.
In addition, there are now two related suits pending in Virginia, one in Illinois and one in Wisconsin, which could affect the forum analysis in this case, the panel said.
“t is not the reviewing court's role to reweigh the factors on appeal. We also find it is not our role to weigh these factors on review based on new information. For these reasons, we find it necessary to remand to the trial court with instructions to consider the three considerations we have just listed,” the panel said.
In February, the Federal Trade Commission tightened labeling requirements for Four Loko, modifying an earlier agreement with the drink's manufacturer following an outpouring of public comment calling for tougher measures.
All of Phusion's flavored malt drinks containing more than two servings of alcohol must include disclosures under the modified order, down from 2 1/2 servings in the original agreement from October 2011. The new deal also forces the company to include an alcohol facts panel on the back of every can rather than a front-can disclosure comparing its alcohol content to beer.
Justices Stuart Palmer, Margaret Stanton McBride and William Henry Taylor II decided the appeal.
Counsel information for the parties was not immediately available.
The case is Rupp et al. v. Phusion Projects LLC et al., case number 11-L-2726, in the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, Fifth Division.
A three-judge panel reversed a trial court's rejection of a dismissal motion filed by Phusion and other defendants. The motion was based on the doctrine of forum non conveniens, which holds that a court can toss a suit that it believes would be more appropriately held in another venue. The trial court had rejected the defendants' contention that the case should be heard in Virginia.
While it agreed with much of the trial court's analysis, the appeals court held that the practical considerations that make a trial easy, expeditious and inexpensive should be revisited.
The trial court should consider the choice of law issue — whether Virginia or Illinois state law applies in the case — when it weighs which venue is favored by the public interest, the panel said.
The lower court erred when it ruled that City Brewing Co. LLC, the company that brewed, bottled and labeled the Four Loko, and Synergy Flavors Inc., another defendant, were not a part of the dismissal motion, according to the panel. Synergy would be subject to jurisdiction in Virginia, it said.
In addition, there are now two related suits pending in Virginia, one in Illinois and one in Wisconsin, which could affect the forum analysis in this case, the panel said.
“t is not the reviewing court's role to reweigh the factors on appeal. We also find it is not our role to weigh these factors on review based on new information. For these reasons, we find it necessary to remand to the trial court with instructions to consider the three considerations we have just listed,” the panel said.
In February, the Federal Trade Commission tightened labeling requirements for Four Loko, modifying an earlier agreement with the drink's manufacturer following an outpouring of public comment calling for tougher measures.
All of Phusion's flavored malt drinks containing more than two servings of alcohol must include disclosures under the modified order, down from 2 1/2 servings in the original agreement from October 2011. The new deal also forces the company to include an alcohol facts panel on the back of every can rather than a front-can disclosure comparing its alcohol content to beer.
Justices Stuart Palmer, Margaret Stanton McBride and William Henry Taylor II decided the appeal.
Counsel information for the parties was not immediately available.
The case is Rupp et al. v. Phusion Projects LLC et al., case number 11-L-2726, in the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, Fifth Division.
Re: Four Loko Maker Wins 2nd Shot At Nixing Wrongful Death Suit
Posted by:
Whammy
()
Date: October 29, 2013 04:14PM
One of the local lawsuits have settled and reported that the Rupps are buying a beach home with the money received. The other suits are still going on and might settle up soon or go to trial in December.
What is your take on this lawsuit?
What is your take on this lawsuit?
Re: Four Loko Maker Wins 2nd Shot At Nixing Wrongful Death Suit
Posted by:
Get some
()
Date: October 30, 2013 05:39PM
Won't bring their son back which is sad, but why not go for broke and sue everyone that touched the can that he drank and try to enjoy the rest of the time with some big time money.