Starbucks Iced Drink Lawsuit Will Not Have Its Day in Court

It's just one of several underfilled beverage suits currently pending against the company

Starbucks' legal department ought to be sipping celebratory Frappuccinos right now, because a proposed class-action lawsuit against the coffee giant was just dismissed.

Filed back in May in California federal court, the suit alleged Starbucks misrepresents the size of its iced beverages: While the menu advertises a tall as 12 ounces and a grande as 16 ounces, et al, the plaintiffs said that customers were being defrauded because ice takes up approximately half of that volume.

The judge presiding over the case disagreed. As Law360 reports, U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson said the lawsuit had "no weight," writing in his decision:

If children have figured out that including ice in a cold beverage decreases the amount of liquid they will receive, the court has no difficulty concluding that a reasonable consumer would not be deceived into thinking that when they order an iced tea, that the drink they receive will include both ice and tea and that for a given size cup, some portion of the drink will be ice rather than whatever liquid beverage the consumer ordered.

Reached for comment, a Starbucks spokesperson says, "We are pleased with the court’s decision and the judge’s comments on the matter."

Unfortunately for Starbucks, a multitude of other underfilled beverage lawsuits are still pending against it: Another remarkably similar class-action suit regarding its iced drinks was filed in Illinois in May. This litigious trend began back in March, when Starbucks was served with a class-action lawsuit in California claiming that it knowingly and systematically serves customers (hot) lattes that are 25 percent smaller than the menu claims.

Here's a thought: If you don't like paying $5 for a few measly ounces of coffee, maybe just make it your damn self?

• Starbucks Wins Dismissal of Calif. Underfilled Ice Drink Suit [Law360]

• Starbucks Is Being Sued for Underfilling Its Lattes [E]

• Starbucks Faces Copycat Lawsuit Claiming Its Iced Drinks Are Also Underfilled [E]