Today, the New Jersey Supreme Court drove a stake into the many class actions alleging claims under New Jersey’s Truth-in-Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act (“TCCWNA”).  That law provides for $100 in damages whenever an “aggrieved consumer” demonstrates that a contract or other document contains provisions that violate any “clearly established legal right.”  The Supreme Court’s new decision construed both of those statutory limitations in a manner that should preclude virtually all the pending class action cases. 

The decision in Dugan v. TGI Fridays, Inc. and Bozzi v. OSI Restaurant Partners concerned those restaurants’ alleged practice of not printing drink prices on their menus.  The plaintiffs alleged that keeping consumers in the dark about those prices until they received their checks allowed the restaurants to inflate drink prices by a dollar or two each.  They sued under New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act, and because they also contended that the menus were “notices” that violated a “clearly established right” to see prices, they sued under the TCCWNA.  An appellate court found that the claims could not proceed on a class basis because the plaintiffs’ issues were too individualized, and the Supreme Court today affirmed that holding. 

The Supreme Court began by rejecting the plaintiffs’ consumer fraud class action theories, holding that whether any person was “overcharged” and by how much could only be decided person-by-person.  The Court then engaged in an extensive discussion of the TCCWNA, laying waste to the theories under which so many plaintiffs recently have sued online and brick-and-mortar retailers for TCCWNA violations. …
Continue Reading NJ Supreme Court Disapproves Class Certification In Landmark TCCWNA Case