星巴克的拿鐵沒裝滿 美國法官說可以起訴

Two people who accused Starbucks of deliberately underfilling lattes can continue their lawsuit after a federal judge in California dismissed three counts against the beverage retailer but allowed five to remain.

加利福尼亞州一位聯邦法官對星巴克(Starbucks)被控的罪名做出了三項駁回，但做出了五項保留的決定。兩名消費者在之後可繼續控告這家飲品零售商故意提供不足量的拿鐵咖啡。

The plaintiffs, Siera Strumlauf and Benjamin Robles, contended in a class-action complaint filed in March that the popular drinks were underfilled by about 25 percent of their advertised sizes: 12, 16 and 20 ounces.

原告謝拉·斯特魯姆勞夫(Siera Strumlauf)和本傑明·羅布爾斯(Benjamin Robles)在3月提起的集體訴訟中認爲，星巴克那些受歡迎的飲品比該公司對外公開的12、16和20盎司的分量少了大約25%。

Starbucks had argued that a “reasonable consumer” would not have been misled.

星巴克稱“通情達理的顧客”不會被誤導。

But Judge Thelton Henderson of United States District Court in San Francisco said in his ruling on Friday, “This is not a case where the alleged deception is simply implausible as a matter of law.”

但週五當天，舊金山聯邦地區法院(United States District Court in San Francisco)的法官特爾頓·亨德森(Thelton Henderson)在判決中表示，“就這起案件而言，被控的欺騙行爲從法律角度來看並非是不可信的。”

“The court finds it probable that a significant portion of the latte-consuming public could believe that a ‘Grande’ contains 16 ounces of fluid, measured without milk foam or in its cooled state,” he wrote. “If nothing else, it is probable enough that the issue should be decided by a trier of fact, not on a motion to dismiss.”

“法庭的結論是，有可能大量喝拿鐵咖啡的消費者認爲，奶泡不計在內時或處於不熱的狀態下，‘大杯’拿鐵內裝有16盎司咖啡，”他寫道。“在不考慮其他問題的情況下，這個可能性已經夠大，因而應該用事實進行審判，而不是通過駁回案件的動議來決定這個問題。”

In their complaint, the plaintiffs said Starbucks used cups that held the advertised amounts only when filled to the brim, but that the drinks were not filled that high. They said that in 2009, Starbucks made a “conscious decision” to save money on milk by using Pitchers with etched-in “fill to” lines that were too low, and the recipe required baristas to fill a quarter-inch below the brim of the cups, the lawsuit says.

本案原告稱，星巴克用的杯子只有裝滿後才能達到廣告中的分量，但實際上杯子並未裝那麼滿。他們在訴訟中表示，2009年，星巴克“有意決定”通過使用“量滿”刻度線非常低的奶壺來節省牛奶成本，且配方要求咖啡師在注入咖啡時至杯沿以下四分之一英寸（約合0.6釐米）處即可。

In a statement, Starbucks said the lawsuit was “without merit.”

星巴克在一份聲明中表示，訴訟“毫無依據”。

“All of our handcrafted beverages are made in accordance with our customers’ preferences,” the company said. “If a customer is not satisfied with their beverage preparation, we will gladly remake it. We will be prepared to defend our case in court.”

“我們手工調製的所有飲品均參考了顧客的喜好，”該公司稱。“如果顧客對飲品的配製不滿意，我們樂意重做。我們會做好出庭抗辯的準備。”

It’s not the first time that Starbucks has been sued over its drinks. A separate class-action lawsuit in April by Stacey Pincus of Chicago accused the company of putting too much ice in cold drinks, leaving consumers with just over half the amount they paid for, according to Courthouse News.

這不是星巴克首次因其提供的飲品而被告上法庭。據“法院新聞”(Courthouse News)報道，在4月的另一場集體訴訟中，芝加哥的斯泰茜·平卡斯(Stacey Pincus)控告星巴克在冷飲中加的冰塊太多，導致消費者拿到的飲料只略多於其應有分量的一半。

Starbucks called that lawsuit “without merit,” as well.

星巴克同樣稱那起訴訟“毫無依據”。