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Carly Simon Files New Suit against Starbucks Coffee Chain

By Kamika Dunlap on June 02, 2010 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Singer Carly Simon has filed a second lawsuit against Starbucks over the decision by the coffee chain to get out of the music business just days before her album was set to be released in stores.

The new suit filed by Carly Simon comes on the heels of her original suit which a judge shot down, saying she didn't have a direct contract with Starbucks and that she failed to show how the company made any fraudulent misrepresentations, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

In her original lawsuit, Simon claims that the Starbucks coffee chain concealed facts and misled her before bailing on the music business, five days before her album was scheduled to be released.

The judge didn't buy it, but allowed the singer to amend her complaint.

Carly Simon's deal was with Hear Music, a separate operating entity that provided Starbucks, its parent company, with albums to distribute in its stores.

A misrepresentation need not be intentionally false to create liability. A statement made with conscious ignorance or a reckless disregard for the truth can create liability. Non-disclosure of material or important facts also can result in liability.

A misrepresentation in a contract can give a party the right to rescind the contract. Rescission of a contract returns the parties to the positions they held before the contract was made.

In her amended complaint, Carly Simon alleges that in a series of phone calls, and in person, she was told that if she signed with Hear Music, Starbucks would aggressively promote and distribute her albums.

 

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