A Florida District Court judge has tossed out a lawsuit seeking class action status in a case against liquor giant Bacardi on the grounds that federal law preempted the 150-year-old state statute relied upon by the plaintiff.

In an effort to attain class action certification and damages, the case filed against Bacardi alleged that under Florida’s antiquated law the alcohol sold by Bacardi was adulterated and thereby worthless and illegal. The 150-year-old law in question stated:

562.455 Adulterating liquor; penalty. – Whoever adulterates, for the purpose of sale, any liquor, used or intended for drink, with cocculus indicus, vitriol, grains of paradise, opium, alum, capsicum, copperas, laurel water, logwood, brazil wood, cochineal, sugar of lead, or any other substance which is poisonous or injurious to health, and whoever knowingly sells any liquor so adulterated, shall be guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

In seeking a dismissal, Bacardi countered that, since the state law was passed, grains of paradise have been recognized as part of the FDA’s list of safe (GRAS) ingredients, thus preempting the Florida law.

In dismissing the case with prejudice the court noted: “Numerous class actions have greatly benefited society such as Brown v. Board of Education, In re Exxon Valdez, and In re Agent Orange Product Liability Litigation. This is not one of those class actions.”

The Court also rebutted plaintiff’s assertion that his claims are not preempted because the Twenty-First Amendment grants states the right to regulate alcohol.

—Source: Lexblog.com