Sascha Henry

Henry advises businesses that serve everyday consumers.

"I really enjoy working in the food and beverage industry," she said. "[I]t's something folks can relate to. So our judges have experience with food and beverage products. When we are before a jury, they will also have experienced a lot of the time with the products that are at the subject of that litigation."

Her client Cuties Juice was sued over the statement "no added sugar" on one of its drinks. Henry successfully resolved the false advertising case at the pleading stage by referring to another lawsuit in which a plaintiff sued the Gap for selling non-Gap products at outlet stores, but not at its other locations.

"They brought a claim alleging that it was deceptively advertised as being a Gap or Banana Republic item," Henry said. "[I]t wasn't food per se, but the analysis was the same: was it accurately labeled? ... And, in terms of quality, could the consumer examine it?"

There was a simple way for the plaintiff in the Cuties Juice case to determine that the product only bore the sugar found naturally in tangerines without anyone being artificially added by the manufacturer, she argued.

"If the consumer has some preconceptions about what the import of that meant, the consumer could turn the bottle around and see all the other nutrition, facts, information, such as the amount of sugar and so forth."

Henry's trial court victory was upheld by the Court of Appeal.

Henry won a similar case for Starbucks when plaintiffs in a false advertising suit claimed the coffee giant's 12-ounce tall, 16-ounce grande and 24-ounce venti sizes were misleading because the milk foam did not count toward the volume of the drinks.

But Henry was able to win over U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.

"No reasonable consumer would be deceived into believing the lattes, which are made up of espresso, steamed milk and milk foam contain the promised beverage volume excluding milk foam," the judge wrote.

Looking ahead, one of the changes Henry said could begin consuming a larger part of her time is how the food itself makes it to customers in a more meaningful or efficient way,"

"Just in the last six months with Covid-19, we've seen companies switching how they deliver the food, making it easier for the consumers to get their food, depending on the circumstances," she said.

-- Arin Mikailian