California Court of Appeal

In a class action lawsuit against General Nutrition Companies (GNC) involving over-the-counter sales of products containing anabolic steroids, brought under the Unfair Competition Law (UCL) and the Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA), trial court's denial of motion to certify is reversed where: 1) plaintiff's UCL claim presents two predominant issues, both of which are common to the class; and 2) the damage that a plaintiff in a CLRA action must show is any damage which is not synonymous with actual damages and may encompass harms other than pecuniary damages, and here, the damage plaintiff alleged in the case is that, in reliance on GNC's deceptive conduct, he bought an illegal product he would not have bought had he known it was illegal.

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/21/2010
• Published 01/21/2010

Judges

• WILLHITE, J.

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Cohelan & Khoury, Timothy D. Cohelan and Isam C. Khoury; Clark & Markham, James M. Treglio and David R. Markham for Plaintiff and Appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, Kathleen D. Patterson and Rocky C. Tsai; McGuireWoods and Gordon W. Schmidt for Defendant and Respondent.