Caldwell v. Nordic Naturals, Inc.

Background

Cheryl Caldwell filed a putative class action against Nordic Naturals, Inc. concerning its dietary supplement product “Ultimate® Omega 2X.” Caldwell alleges that using “2X” with “Ultimate Omega” on the front of the package misleads consumers into believing that the product contains twice as much omega-3 per serving as Nordic Naturals’ product named “Ultimate® Omega.” The opinion states that the plaintiffs and putative class representatives are from California, Illinois, Florida, and New York.

The dispute concerned the scope of discovery before class certification. Caldwell served interrogatories and requests for production seeking nationwide and California gross retail sales and units sold for the product. Nordic Naturals produced data for California sales made directly to consumers. The parties then filed a joint letter brief about whether Nordic Naturals also had to produce nationwide sales information and sales or unit data involving brick-and-mortar retailers, wholesalers, and distributors.

Parties’ Positions

The plaintiffs argued that nationwide sales and sales through third parties were relevant to their claims. Nordic Naturals argued that nationwide sales were not relevant because the plaintiffs were unlikely to obtain certification of a nationwide class. It also argued that only direct-to-consumer sales were relevant, not sales to third parties that later sell the product to consumers.

Ruling

The court ordered Nordic Naturals to supplement its discovery responses and produce nationwide sales data, as well as all units sold to retailers, wholesalers, and distributors. The court stated that it was premature for Nordic Naturals to argue that a nationwide class could not be certified or that nationwide sales were irrelevant. The court also concluded that broader sales and unit information could be relevant to the plaintiffs’ damages model for a nationwide class, because they would at least need to propose a method for calculating damages on a class-wide basis.

Judge Edward M. Chen entered the order on November 25, 2024. This was a discovery ruling about information to be produced before class certification; the opinion did not decide whether the class should be certified or whether the plaintiffs would prevail on their underlying claims.