Welcome to the Trend Detection Weekly Scan from Law.com Radar. This weekly article highlights shifts and patterns in case filings that are surfaced by Law.com Radar’s award-winning Trend Detection system.
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Here are some noteworthy litigation patterns surfaced by the platform this week:
► ‘Greenwashing’ cases are on the rise in the food, beverage and consumer goods sectors.
► Colgate-Palmolive is in the crosshairs over lead, arsenic and bacteria in its toothpastes.
► Environmental groups are fighting back against the Trump administration’s energy policies.
► Shareholders claim that companies are failing to deliver on AI-driven promises.
► Novo Nordisk is cracking down on sales of knockoff weight loss drugs.
Litigation Trend – Food, Beverage & Tobacco | Class Actions
Class actions are gaining momentum in the food and beverage sector, according to Law.com Radar. The platform surfaced 24 federal class actions in February targeting entities on Radar’s sector watchlist, continuing a rising trend which traces back roughly 12 months.
Of note, at least three false advertising cases were filed accusing companies of ‘greenwashing,’ or making false claims about the sustainability of products or services. For instance, avocado companies Calavo Growers, Fresh Del Monte and Mission Produce were sued on Feb. 21 for allegedly concealing soil degradation, deforestation and other impacts of avocado production in Mexico, and a Feb. 26 lawsuit against milk company Fairlife and its parent company Coca-Cola alleges that the companies tolerated animal cruelty in their supply chain and misrepresented nonrecyclable packaging as recyclable. Both suits were filed in California Central District Court.
The suits are part of a broader trend of cases accusing companies of misleading consumers about the sustainability of products and business practices. In January, Igloo and CamelBak were sued for allegedly misrepresenting the biodegradability and recycled content of their coolers and water bottles, and another suit accuses Procter & Gamble of misleading consumers about the impacts of Charmin toilet paper production on forests. Sprouts Farmers Market was also sued in January over claims that its single-use tableware is not compostable as advertised.
Litigation Surge – Class Actions | Colgate-Palmolive
Consumer goods conglomerate Colgate-Palmolive was hit with a cluster of federal class actions in February. At least three suits were filed, two of which center on the company’s Tom’s of Maine toothpaste products.
One suit, filed on Feb. 6, contends that strawberry-flavored Tom’s of Maine Kid’s Natural Fluoride-Free Toothpaste contains unsafe levels of lead and arsenic. The claims are similar to those asserted in a wave of class actions targeting baby food manufacturers in the wake of a Feb. 2021 Congressional investigation regarding trace metals in baby food products. Another suit, brought on Feb. 11, alleges that certain Tom’s of Maine toothpaste products were made with bacteria-contaminated water. The suit is part of a string of cases following a Nov. 2024 investigative report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Litigation Surge – Public Interest & Nonprofit | Environmental Protection Agency
Nonprofit groups launched a flurry of lawsuits against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on March 3 in District of Columbia District Court. At least three suits were filed, two of which were brought by the Environmental Defense Fund under the Freedom of Information Act. Both cases seek records pertaining to pollution standards and other environmental policies after President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled ‘Unleashing American Energy.’
The EPA was also named in a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity targeting the newly created Department of Government Efficiency or ‘DOGE.’ The suit contends that an executive order requiring federal agencies to create ‘DOGE Teams’ violates the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which imposes procedural requirements for establishing advisory committees.
Litigation Surge – Securities | Glancy Prongay & Murray
Plaintiffs firm Glancy Prongay & Murray filed a cluster of securities cases in California federal courts in February. At least four suits were brought by the firm, two of which accuse companies of concealing issues with rolling out AI products and services. For instance, a Feb. 20 suit accuses semiconductor and digital systems company Semtech of failing to disclose that sales would decline based on a need to fix CopperEdge products after receiving negative feedback from AI giant Nvidia, while another suit filed on Feb. 19 claims that software development platform GitLab overestimated demand for its new AI features and was forced to roll back a price increase after struggling to retain customers. Other firms have brought similar suits against Semtech and GitLab.
AI-related shareholder litigation is ramping up: Customer experience platform Telus International was sued in January over claims that its expansion into AI data solutions caused profit margins to decline, and Monolithic Power Systems was hit with a lawsuit in February after Nvidia reportedly cut ties with the company based on quality issues with its power modules. Plus, a March 6 suit claims that advertising platform The Trade Desk fell short of revenue projections due to a slow rollout of its generative AI forecasting tool Kokai.
Litigation Surge – Tennessee | Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk brought a swarm of lawsuits in Tennessee Middle District Court on Feb. 28. At least four cases were filed, all pursuing claims against medical wellness spas under the Lanham Act and Tennessee Consumer Protection Act. The suits are part of a wave of cases accusing spas and medical clinics of selling semaglutide-based compounded weight loss drugs and falsely representing that the drugs are FDA-approved equivalents to Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus medications. Who’s bringing the heat? Riley & Jacobson is representing Novo Nordisk in the Tennessee actions.
There’s plenty more happening! Visit Law.com Radar for the latest results.
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