Diageo refutes ‘baseless’ lawsuit against its Tequilas
The world’s largest spirits producer Diageo has submitted its initial response to a lawsuit alleging its Tequila brands, Casamigos and Don Julio, are falsely labelled as ‘100% agave’.
In May, a class action lawsuit was filed against Diageo North America alleging it falsely marketed its Tequila brands as ‘100% agave’.
Consumers Avi Pusateri and Chaim Mishulovin, and restaurant Sushi Tokyo, filed the class action lawsuit against Diageo North America with the US District Court of the Eastern District of New York.
Pusateri, who lives in New York, owns and operates the Jazz Age Cocktails mixology group, while Mishulovin is a resident of New Jersey.
Today (14 July), Diageo filed its initial response to the New York agave class action. The company denies the allegations.
A Diageo spokesperson said: “These claims are without factual or legal merit. The complaint fails to allege a single fact that comes close to supporting the baseless claim that Casamigos and Don Julio Tequilas are not 100% agave.
“All Casamigos and Don Julio tequilas labelled as ‘100% agave’ are made from 100% Blue Weber agave.
“We will vigorously defend the quality and integrity of our Tequilas in court, and against anyone who is spreading misinformation and lies about our products.”
In its letter to LaShann DeArcy Hall, of the United States District Court, Eastern District of New York, Diageo’s legal team describe the accusations in the New York lawsuit as unsupported and unverified speculation. It claims there has been no investigation involving Diageo or its products to substantiate the allegations.
New lawsuits come forward
This month (July), two more lawsuits were brought against the drinks giant, also alleging false claims of ‘100% agave’ from Don Julio and Casamigos. These allegations claim to have test results to support the claims.
One of the new lawsuits was filed in San Francisco, California, and the second was filed in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
The lawsuit from California, filed by resident Jacqueline Jackson, is a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) case. These types of cases allow prosecutors to not just target the individual crimes, but the entire criminal business behind them.
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