San Francisco, CA – A California federal judge indicated Friday she’s inclined to dismiss a proposed class action claiming Dunkin Donuts LLC violates the Americans with Disabilities Act by charging extra for beverages with nondairy milk, but said she’ll likely allow the plaintiff customers to amend their complaint.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said at the start of Friday’s virtual hearing that a revised complaint would need to address Dunkin’s assertions it doesn’t control its franchisees and should also bolster the customers’ claims about their lactose intolerance.
“The essential question … which we need to resolve before we can go much further is jurisdiction,” the judge said. “I will give you leave to amend and also to do some preliminary discovery that would allow you to flesh out the jurisdictional allegations.”
In its filed motion to dismiss, Dunkin’ — the company dropped the word “Donuts” from its name and logo in 2019 — said the court didn’t have jurisdiction to pull it into California federal court.
