Amazon Seeks to Relate Prime Video Fees Case to Whole Foods Delivery Fee Action

Amazon is seeking to relate another case involving Amazon Prime Video fees to In Re: Amazon Service Fee Litigation, a consolidated action involving Whole Foods delivery fees under the Prime membership program, said its notice of related case Tuesday (docket 2:22-cv-00743) in U.S. District Court for Western Washington in Seattle. The consolidated case, in which plaintiff Dena Griffith is suing Amazon for removing free Whole Foods grocery delivery from her Prime membership benefit, and Natalie Gianne et al v. Amazon.com, Inc. (docket 2:24-cv-00309) -- in which plaintiffs allege they were harmed by a monthly fee introduced to receive Amazon Prime Video without ads -- both arise from Amazon’s changes to benefits under Prime, said the notice. The cases bring claims under consumer protection statutes, “based on Amazon’s allegedly false or misleading promises regarding the Prime service and alleged breach of contractual obligations," and the proposed classes “overlap with the proposed class in the Gianne case,” it said. Both cases are filed against the same defendant, arise from substantially similar allegations, require determinations of substantially similar questions of fact and law, and are likely to entail substantial duplication of effort for the judges assigned to each case, it said.