New UCL "injury in fact" decision: Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Mendes

In Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Mendes, ___ Cal.App.4th ___ (Feb. 15, 2008), the Court of Appeal (Fifth Appellate District) held that the plaintiffs—two consumers of dairy products—lacked standing to pursue a UCL claim against ranchers who allegedly confined dairy calves in isolation crates without an "adequate exercise area," in violation of Penal Code section 579t. The plaintiffs, the Court held, had not suffered "loss of money or property": "Here, the consumers had the benefit of their bargain—that is, they received dairy products that were not of inferior quality. Any injury they suffered upon learning 'the truth' about industrial dairy farming was not economic." Slip op. at 11.

The Court also held that the Penal Code provision that the defendants allegedly violated carries no private right of action. Id. at 4-9.