By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) - PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) won the dismissal of New York's lawsuit accusing the beverage and snack-food company of polluting the environment with single-use plastic packaging, as the judge criticized the state's attorney general, Letitia James, for bringing the case.
Justice Emilio Colaiacovo of the state Supreme Court in Buffalo said on Thursday that James failed to show PepsiCo created a public nuisance and should have warned consumers about the health and environmental risks of plastics in more than 100 of its brands.
James sued PepsiCo and its Frito-Lay unit last November, seeking to hold them liable for endangering Buffalo's water supply by generating 17% of the plastic waste found in and near the Buffalo River. She also said the defendants deceived the public about their efforts to fight plastics pollution.
But the judge ruled it would run "contrary to every norm of established jurisprudence" to punish PepsiCo, because it was people, not the company, who ignored laws prohibiting littering.
He also said James, a Democrat, ignored a 2003 appeals court's refusal to hold Sturm Ruger liable when criminals use its handguns and risk opening the floodgates to public nuisance lawsuits. James' predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, brought that case.
"While I can think of no reasonable person who does not believe in the imperatives of recycling and being better stewards of our environment, this does not give rise to phantom assertions of liability that do nothing to solve the problem that exists," wrote Colaiacovo, a Republican.
"The judicial system should not be burdened with predatory lawsuits that seek to impose punishment while searching for a crime," he added.
A spokeswoman for James said the attorney general's office is disappointed with the decision and reviewing its options, but was committed to protecting communities from plastic pollution, calling it "a major threat to our planet and our public health."
PepsiCo, based in Purchase, New York, said it is pleased with the decision, and "serious" about plastics reduction and effective recycling.
"Our time, attention and resources -- and those of other key stakeholders -- are best directed toward collaborative solutions," it added.
James' lawsuit is one of many by state and local governments and environmental groups against companies that use plastics.
Colaiacovo ruled one day after Los Angeles County filed a similar lawsuit against PepsiCo and Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) over their single-use plastic packaging.
PepsiCo's brands include Cheetos, Cracker Jack, Doritos, Fritos, Gatorade, Lay's, Lipton, Mountain Dew, Ocean Spray, Pepsi, Quaker, Ruffles and Tostitos.
The case is New York v. PepsiCo Inc et al, New York State Supreme Court, Erie County, No. 814682/2023.