CHICAGO -- Less than a week after a sweetened-beverage tax went into effect in Cook County, Ill., an area resident has filed a class-action lawsuit against Walgreens claiming the drug-store retailer is charging the tax on unsweetened drinks, and a CBS 2 Chicago news report shows similar confusion at a Chicago convenience store.
Vince De Leon of Schaumburg, Ill., filed the two-count lawsuit Aug. 7 on behalf of himself and anyone else who has paid the new tax on an unsweetened drink at a Walgreens location, according to a Chicago Sun-Times report. The lawsuit alleges Walgreens violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and was unjustly enriched by collecting the taxes.
The filing comes less than a week after the county's 1-cent-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages went into effect on Aug. 3.
De Leon claimed he was wrongfully charged the sweetened-beverage tax on a case of Dasani Tropical Pineapple Sparkling Water on Aug. 4 at the Walgreens store in the 1000 block of North Roselle Road in northwest suburban Hoffman Estates, even though the case was “clearly labeled ‘unsweetened,’ ” according to the lawsuit. De Leon didn’t know he should not have been charged the tax until later and claims Walgreens deceived him in the purchase.
The lawsuit details two other transactions in which people who are unnamed in the complaint were charged the tax on unsweetened beverages, according to the report. And a CBS 2 Chicago news report (see video below) chronicles a reporter seeing the tax added when she purchases an unsweetened bottled water at a Chicago c-store.
Walgreens has not responded to the lawsuit so far.
The class-action lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, requests a trial by jury and seeks at least $50,000 in damages, including the refund of all improperly charged sweetened-beverage taxes.
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