It's not hard to imagine walking into a doughnut shop, wanting all those sweet, glazed calories, noticing some fruity options on the menu, and thinking to yourself, "That sounds like a healthy option for my sweet glazed calories -- I'll go with the blueberry doughnut." These could be the thoughts of many doughnut shop customers; those who go to Krispy Kreme and those who go to Dunkin' Donuts.
It's also not hard to imagine that those customers might be disappointed upon learning the blueberries in their sweet, glazed donuts were not actually blueberries. So disappointed, in fact that they would want to sue the doughnut shop, whether it be a Krispy Kreme or a Dunkin' Donuts. And you might even imagine attorneys for one of those disappointed customers copying and pasting large sections of one fake blueberry doughnut lawsuit into another.
Carbon Copy Claims
We thought Bartosz Grabowski's assertion that Dunkin' Donuts wasn't using real blueberries in its doughnuts sounded familiar. Jason Saidian made similar allegations against Krispy Kreme last year. But we noticed something when we read Grabowski's claims regarding the health benefits of blueberries that didn't just sound a little familiar. Here's the text from Grabowski's Dunkin' Donuts lawsuit:
Blueberries have the potential to limit the development and severity of certain cancers and vascular diseases, including atherosclerosis, ischemic stroke, and neurodegenerative diseases of aging. Research suggests that blueberries are one of the richest sources of antioxidant phytonutrients.
And here's text from Saidian's prior suit against Krispy Kreme:
Blueberries have the potential to limit the development and severity of certain cancers and vascular diseases, including atherosclerosis, ischemic stroke, and neurodegenerative diseases of aging. Research suggests that blueberries are one of the richest sources of antioxidant phytonutrients.
If this were just a case of both lawsuits relying on the same blueberry science, that would be one thing. But the Dunkin' Donut lawsuit, filed by James X. Bormes, Catherine P. Sons, and Thomas M. Ryan, doesn't include citations for the blueberry claims. And then there are the very next paragraphs, first from the Krispy Kreme filing:
Consumers pay a premium price for the Products. The Products are each considered "Assorted Variet[y]" products and are uniformly priced higher than the Original Glazed Donut.
Then from the Dunkin' Donuts suit:
Consumers pay a premium price for the Blueberry Products. The Products are each considered "Assorted Variet[y]" products and are uniformly priced higher than the Original Glazed Donut.
The Products Do Not Contain Their Respective Premium Ingredient
Finally, here's the meat (or imitation filling, if you will) of Saidian's claims against Krispy Kreme (which included their allegedly raspberry and maple doughnuts):
Plaintiff and other consumers purchased the Products, reasonably relying on Defendant's deceptive representation about the Products, and believing that each of the Products contained its respective Premium Ingredient. Had Plaintiff and other consumers known that the Products did not contain their Premium Ingredients, they would not have purchased the Products or would have paid significantly less for the Products. Therefore, Plaintiff and consumers have suffered injury in fact as a result of Defendant's deceptive practices.
And Grabowski's claims against Dunkin' Donuts
Plaintiff and other consumers purchased the Blueberry Products, reasonably relying on Defendant's deceptive representation about them, and believing that each of the Products contained blueberries. Had Plaintiff and other consumers known that the Products did not contain blueberries, they would not have purchased the Blueberry Products or would have paid significantly less for the Products. Therefore, Plaintiff and consumers have suffered injury in fact as a result of Defendant's deceptive practices.
Saidian sued Krispy Kreme for $5 million, though the suit was voluntarily dismissed in April. How much is Grabowski seeking from Dunkin' Donuts? You guessed it -- $5 mil.
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