THE Supreme Court of the United States on Tuesday upheld a 5th Circuit Court ruling regarding Whole Foods, joining the court in its rebuke of the way a lower district court handled the case.
Tuesday’s 9-0 opinion, written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, concerns a lawsuit filed in Texas by Sarah and Grant Palmquist. The couple alleged that baby food sold at Whole Foods and manufactured by Hain Celestial Group harmed their child because it contained heavy metals linked to numerous side effects.
The Palmquists sued Whole Foods and Hain. Texas courtalleging product liability and negligence claims against Hain, and breach of warranty and negligence claims under state law against Whole Foods.
Hain, a company based in Delaware and New York, requested that the case be brought in federal court. This raised a separate issue, however, because both Palmquists and Whole Foods are based in Texas and the allegations concern Texas law.
SUPREME COURT DEALS BLOW TO TRUMP BUSINESS AGENDA IN MAJOR TARIFF CASE
The Supreme Court ruled that Whole Foods was improperly excluded from a case in which parents claimed baby food harmed their child. (Peter Dazeley/Getty Images)
“Federal courts can only exercise diversity jurisdiction when no opposing party is from the same state, but Whole Foods and the Palmquists are all citizens of Texas. Accordingly, the district court lacked jurisdiction as the case currently stands,” the court wrote in its opinion.
Hain sought to move forward by removing Whole Foods from the deal, arguing that they should not have been included in the first place. A district court agreed and ruled in Hain’s favor, rejecting Whole Foods’ involvement.
US TARIFF REVENUES INCREASE 300% UNDER TRUMP AS SUPREME COURT BATTLE HEADS UP
Whole Foods will now face a lawsuit in Texas over one of its baby foods. (Noam Galaï/Getty Images)
The Palmquists then appeal and the case went to the 5th Circuit Court, which rejected the lower court’s ruling, saying Whole Foods had been rightfully associated with Hain in the original lawsuit and that the case should have been handled in state court.
The case was then appealed to the Supreme Court, which unanimously upheld the 5th Circuit’s decision Tuesday, sending the case back to Texas.
Tuesday’s ruling, however, does not weigh on the Palmquists’ core allegations against Whole Foods and Hain.
People walk past the United States Supreme Court in Washington, DC (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Their original lawsuit said their child, who was just over 2 years old at the time, “was diagnosed with a range of physical and mental problems that some doctors attributed to heavy metal poisoning.”
“In 2021, a subcommittee of the United States House of Representatives released a staff report concluding that some baby foods, including Hain’s, contained high levels of toxic heavy metals. Following the publication of the report, the Palmquists sued Hain and Whole Foods in Texas state court,” the Supreme Court explained.
