Earth Island Institute v. Coca-Cola Co.

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of a deceptive marketing lawsuit against Coca-Cola Company under the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CPPA). The plaintiff, Earth Island Institute, alleged that Coca-Cola misled consumers regarding its environmental sustainability with statements that touted the company’s efforts to address packaging waste when the company actually was failing to take necessary steps to meet its sustainability goals. Allegedly misleading statements included that the company was taking a “leadership position” on the “interconnected global challenges of packaging waste and climate change.” As a threshold matter, the court found that Earth Island Institute had standing to bring the CPPA claim. On the merits, the Court of Appeals found that the plaintiff stated a facially plausible misrepresentation and rejected arguments that “aspirational” statements could not be actionable under the CPPA. The Court of Appeals also found that Coca-Cola’s claims regarding plastic packaging were “very much statements about its ‘goods and services’” for purposes of the CPPA. The appellate court also held that misleading misrepresentations did not have to be in a single statement to be actionable under the CPPA. In addition, the court rejected Coca-Cola’s argument that the First Amendment precluded the lawsuit.

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