Court: People who don’t look at menus can’t sue over drink prices
COURTESY TGI FRIDAYS
Flo Rida shot his “Hello Friday” music video at TGI Fridays on March 16 in Los Angeles.
NEWARK, N.J. >> A lawsuit that began over a $1.59 discrepancy for a drink at TGI Friday’s cannot proceed as a class action, a New Jersey appeals court has ruled.
The court’s ruling published Thursday is the latest development in a six-year saga that began when a southern New Jersey woman sued the chain after she realized she had been charged $2.00 for a drink at the bar and, later, $3.59 for a similar drink while sitting at a table.
Debra Dugan claimed the price difference and the fact the restaurants don’t print drink prices on their menus amounted to violations of state consumer protection laws. She claimed the practice amounted to “menu engineering” and sought to exploit customers.
Two other plaintiffs eventually joined the lawsuit. One testified at his deposition that he ordered three mixed drinks at a TGI Friday’s in Cherry Hill and “went ballistic” when he saw the bill for $6.99 per drink.
A judge granted class action status in 2012, meaning anyone who ordered unpriced drinks at 14 company-owned New Jersey restaurants from 2004 through 2014 could make a claim.
A three-judge panel of the state appeals court reversed that finding, writing that people who either didn’t look at the menus or ask the prices before ordering couldn’t necessarily claim damages.
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“The class definition erroneously includes all persons who purchased an unpriced soda, beer or mixed drink regardless of whether they reviewed the menu before purchasing the beverages,” the panel wrote. “If a person did not look at the beverage section of the menu, TGIF’s failure to list prices on the menu had no causal nexus to the person’s decision to purchase a particular beverage.”
The court decision allows the individual plaintiffs to go ahead with their claims.
An attorney for TGI Friday’s declined to comment Friday. An attorney for the plaintiffs didn’t return a message seeking comment.
14 responses to “Court: People who don’t look at menus can’t sue over drink prices”
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I am going to sue Zippy’s and other restaurants and bars that sell Kirin as imported beer when in fact it is brewed by Anheuser-Busch in Los Angeles, California and in Williamsburg, Virginia. It is American beer with a Japanese name. Not imported.
Huh? Zippy’s sells alcoholic drinks? Maybe Ronin006 has had too many root beers.
At Charley’s Bar, which is typical located next to the dine in section of selected Zippy’s Restaurants.
Ronin would probably sue the restaurants if the Columbian coffee isn’t roasted in Colombia.
$6.99 drinks? Outrageous!
Yeah outrageously cheap! Over here a cocktail cost between $10 & $14. Go to Wolfgangs or Mariposa, wines are $12 to $14 each. But hey that’s we go there for. I’d go to Chili’s or Friday’s if I didn’t have the money. Stay within your limits, can’t afford it buy a bottle at Costco and drink at home with friends.
WOW, those would be really cheap drinks here.
Chili’s does the same thing and when I realized that the drinks cost $3.50 a piece, I simply didn’t order them the next time we went there to eat. Some people are just ridiculous.
We’ll have none of that personal responsibility jazz around here!/
No prices on the menu? What’s up with that!
How embarrassing to have to ask for prices before ordering…I suspect the chain knows this.
What do they claim? That they print one menu for all their restaurants and the restaurants can charge whatever they want?
Yeah, I think that has a lot to do with it. It’s pretty annoying to me, not knowing what one of those drinks cost, but I don’t think it’s grounds for a lawsuit. In this, case, though the price difference between bar and dining area might be good cause – unless there was something somewhere that said happy hour in bar only.
I’ve noticed this trend towards not printing drink prices and I feel it is basically dishonest on the restaurant’s part. Instead of asking, sometimes I’ll just order water, which is my way of getting back at them. No other explanation as to why they would not print those prices. Screw ’em.
How do you know and prove if a patron looked at the menu or didn’t..?
Tough!