New Yorkers Who Drink Fireball May be Due a Lump Sum Settlement

If you’ve ever grabbed a bottle of Fireball or Parrot Bay at a gas station in New York, you might be part of a lawsuit and not even know it.

According to The Spirits Business, A federal judge has just allowed a class action to move forward against Sazerac, the company behind both brands, after customers said they were misled about what they were actually buying.

The issue centers around “malt-based” versions of Fireball and Parrot Bay that have been sold at convenience stores and gas stations since 2020. In New York and in several other states, true distilled spirits can only be sold at licensed liquor stores. To get around that, Sazerac created lower-alcohol malt versions of its popular products and put them on shelves at places where whisky and rum wouldn’t normally be allowed.

The problem, according to the lawsuits, is that these bottles looked almost exactly like the real thing. One plaintiff, Sharon Pizarro, says she bought Fireball at gas stations for years, thinking it was the well-known Fireball Cinnamon Whisky that comes in at 33% alcohol by volume.

Townsquare Media contributor C.J. McIntyre claims Pizzaro's legal representation reached out to him after he posted a story explaining that the Fireball sold in gas stations was actually something called Fireball Cinnamon, a malt beverage at just 16.5%. Pizzaro was reportedly upset to learn about the low alcohol content, claiming the label was so similar that she never knew the difference.

Another plaintiff, Cindy Koonce, made a similar claim about Parrot Bay. The original product is advertised as Puerto Rican rum with natural coconut flavor at 21% alcohol, but the gas station version is also a malt beverage at just 16.5%. Her complaint says the packaging was misleading and that the tiny differences in wording were easy to miss unless a buyer read the label with "unusual care".

Both cases were combined last year, and Sazerac has repeatedly asked the court to throw them out. But on September 18, Judge Kenneth M. Karas ruled that the class action can move forward. That means anyone in New York who purchased Fireball Malt since April 2020, or Parrot Bay Malt since May 2020, is automatically part of the case unless they choose to opt out.

The lawsuit accuses Sazerac of running a “bait-and-switch" by selling lookalike products that weren’t the whisky or rum many customers expected. Sazerac has not yet commented on the latest ruling.

So, if you count yourself among the many New Yorkers who thought they were sipping whisky or rum, you may soon be in a position to collect some of your money back if the lawsuit is successful.