Quick Answer Box
- The tequila lawsuit is not one case. It is four separate class actions against Diageo, Costco, Teremana, and Heaven Hill over “100% agave” labeling.
- Qualifying buyers are consumers who purchased Casamigos, Don Julio, Kirkland Signature, Teremana, or Lunazul tequila within the relevant class period.
- No settlement exists yet in any of these cases. Every suit is still at the motion to dismiss stage as of mid-2026.
Case Snapshot
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Court | U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (lead case) |
| Case Number | 1:25-cv-02482-LDH-RML |
| Filing Date | May 5, 2025 |
| Judge | Hon. LaShann DeArcy Hall |
| Status | Active; motion to dismiss pending, stay request contested |
| Settlement Fund | None established as of July 2026 |
A wave of lawsuits is now testing whether some of the best-selling tequila brands in America are actually tequila. The tequila lawsuit label covers four distinct pieces of litigation filed between 2025 and 2026, all built on the same core allegation: bottles marketed as “100% agave” allegedly contain cane spirit or other non-agave alcohol.
Plaintiffs are relying on carbon isotope ratio testing, a laboratory method that can trace the botanical origin of ethanol. That is not a detail generic coverage tends to mention.
Diageo North America faces the lead case in Brooklyn federal court. Costco, Teremana, and Heaven Hill Distilleries face separate suits over their own brands.
None of these cases has produced a settlement fund, a claim form, or a payout figure. Anyone telling you otherwise is guessing.
Tequila Lawsuit 2026
The tequila lawsuit 2026 landscape is really a cluster of parallel consumer-fraud cases rather than a single consolidated action. Four defendants, four fact patterns, one shared legal theory.
Diageo North America is defending three related suits over Casamigos and Don Julio in the Eastern District of New York. Costco is fighting a separate Kirkland Signature suit. Teremana and Heaven Hill’s Lunazul brand are each named in their own filings.
Quick facts
- Four active brand-specific suits as of July 2026
- Zero settlements reached
- All cases center on “100% agave” or “100% de Agave” labeling claims
- Plaintiffs cite carbon isotope testing as scientific proof of adulteration
Attorney Insight: Attorneys handling these claims describe the isotope testing evidence as unusually strong for a food and beverage labeling case, since it produces an objective lab result rather than a subjective marketing dispute.
No case has been consolidated into a multidistrict litigation proceeding. Each brand’s suit is proceeding on its own procedural track, in its own court.
100% Agave Lawsuit
A 100% agave lawsuit alleges a tequila brand’s labeling claim is factually false, not merely misleading. That distinction matters legally.
Federal labeling rules and Mexico’s own denomination of origin standards require tequila sold as “100% agave” to be distilled entirely from Weber blue agave sugars. Plaintiffs allege lab testing shows otherwise for several major brands.
The claims typically invoke state consumer protection statutes, unjust enrichment, and in some filings, racketeering allegations. Damages theories center on the price premium consumers paid for a “100% agave” product versus a mixto tequila.
| Claim Type | Legal Theory | Damages Sought |
|---|---|---|
| Casamigos/Don Julio | State consumer fraud, unjust enrichment | Price premium, $5M+ threshold |
| Kirkland Signature | Consumer protection, breach of warranty | Price premium, class damages |
| Teremana | Consumer fraud, false advertising | Compensatory, punitive, treble damages |
Attorney Insight: Attorneys handling these claims note that treble damages requests signal an intent to argue willful deception, not accidental mislabeling.
Diageo Tequila Lawsuit
The Diageo tequila lawsuit is the most advanced of the four cases and the one most competitor sites reference loosely. A new class action lawsuit alleges Diageo North America Inc. falsely markets its highly popular tequila brands as 100% agave but sells adulterated tequila to consumers.
The lead case, Pusateri et al. v. Diageo North America, Inc., Case No. 1:25-cv-02482, is pending before U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall in the Eastern District of New York. Diageo denies every allegation and has moved to dismiss all three suits, and as of June 2026 the court had not yet ruled.
On May 6, 2026, Diageo requested a stay in the cases until the court resolves the pending motions to dismiss, and on May 8, 2026, plaintiffs responded that Diageo had not made the required showing to justify a stay.
Litigation Watch: Three separate suits against Diageo remain unconsolidated in the Eastern District of New York, with motions to dismiss and a contested stay request both unresolved as of mid-2026.
Attorney Insight: Attorneys handling these claims say a contested stay motion often signals both sides expect the dismissal ruling to shape settlement leverage significantly.
Casamigos Lawsuit
The Casamigos lawsuit targets the brand’s “Tequila 100% Agave Azul” label specifically. The case name is Pusateri, et al. v. Diageo North America Inc., filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, with additional claims filed by plaintiff Jacqueline Jackson through the firm Baron & Budd, P.C., alleging fraudulent scheming and racketeering violations.
The original complaint alleges plaintiff Pusateri purchased Casamigos Blanco tequila on July 25, 2023, in New York, and that an investigation of Casamigos and Don Julio tequilas showed they consist of significant concentrations of cane or other types of alcohol rather than pure tequila.
- Brand: Casamigos (Blanco, Reposado, Añejo lines named in filings)
- Owner: Diageo North America Inc.
- Core claim: cane alcohol content despite “100% Agave Azul” label
- Class scope: consumers in New York and New Jersey named in lead complaint
Attorney Insight: Attorneys handling these claims point to the specific purchase date and location detail in the complaint as the kind of factual anchor courts look for at the motion to dismiss stage.
Don Julio Lawsuit
The Don Julio lawsuit runs on the same complaint as the Casamigos claims, since both brands belong to Diageo and are named in the same filings. Diageo labels every bottle of Casamigos tequila as “Tequila 100% Agave Azul” and its Don Julio bottles as “100% de Agave,” according to the plaintiffs.
A second suit from a different plaintiff, alleging the same type of adulteration, followed the original May filing. That second filing broadened the exposure beyond the original three named plaintiffs.
Quick facts
- Don Julio marketed as “luxury tequila” and “100% de Agave”
- Named in the same Eastern District of New York docket as Casamigos claims
- No separate settlement track from Casamigos as of July 2026
Attorney Insight: Attorneys handling these claims say brands sharing a parent company and a labeling template often get litigated together even without formal consolidation.
Kirkland Signature Tequila Lawsuit
The Kirkland Signature tequila lawsuit targets Costco directly rather than a distiller. Costco labels its Kirkland Signature tequila as “100% DE AGAVE” and “100% AGAVE AZUL,” but attorneys allege the tequila contains significant levels of cane and other types of alcohol rather than pure tequila, while being marketed as a premium product.
Costco filed a motion to dismiss on April 21, 2026, with plaintiffs’ opposition due June 2, 2026. That timeline puts the case roughly on the same procedural footing as the Diageo suits.
| Detail | Kirkland Signature Case |
|---|---|
| Defendant | Costco Wholesale Corp. |
| Motion to Dismiss Filed | April 21, 2026 |
| Opposition Due | June 2, 2026 |
| Settlement Status | None |
Attorney Insight: Attorneys handling these claims note that suing the retailer instead of a distiller changes the warranty theories available, since Costco controls its own private-label sourcing contracts.
Teremana Lawsuit
The Teremana lawsuit involves the brand co-founded by Dwayne Johnson and adds a wider geographic class. The plaintiff seeks to represent a nationwide class of consumers who purchased Teremana tequila from March 2020 through the present, an Illinois subclass, and a multi-state subclass covering 25 additional states.
The complaint demands a jury trial and requests compensatory, punitive, and treble damages in excess of $5,500,000, along with disgorgement of profits, injunctive relief, and attorneys’ fees.
- Filed in a state and federal court structure centered on Illinois
- Class period stretches back to March 2020
- Damages demand exceeds $5.5 million, not yet awarded
Attorney Insight: Attorneys handling these claims say a five-year class period combined with a multi-state subclass is designed to maximize the eventual class size if certification succeeds.
Lunazul Lawsuit
The Lunazul lawsuit rounds out the fourth active brand case. Heaven Hill Distilleries is accused of falsely marketing its Lunazul tequila as being made from 100 percent agave.
An April 2026 industry newsletter tracking food and beverage filings noted that plaintiffs allege Teremana tequila labeling misrepresents composition and production methods through “100% agave,” “handcrafted,” and “small batch” claims despite testing indicating non-agave alcohol content and large-scale production, part of a broader concentration of labeling and composition cases filed that month.
Litigation Watch: Four separate tequila brands now face active suits alleging the same core defect: alcohol content that does not match a “100% agave” label.
Attorney Insight: Attorneys handling these claims describe Lunazul as a mid-tier price point compared to Casamigos or Don Julio, which could affect how damages get calculated per bottle.
Who Qualifies for the Tequila Lawsuit
Qualification depends entirely on which brand a consumer purchased and when. There is no single eligibility test across all four cases.
General qualifying factors:
- Purchased Casamigos, Don Julio, Kirkland Signature, Teremana, or Lunazul tequila
- Purchase occurred within the class period named in that brand’s complaint
- Purchase occurred in the United States
- No prior opt-out from a settlement, since none exists yet
Financial harm, meaning an alleged price premium, is the injury theory. No physical injury claim is required in any of the four suits reviewed here.
Attorney Insight: Attorneys handling these claims typically ask buyers to keep receipts or loyalty account purchase records, since documented proof of purchase matters more once a class is certified.
Tequila Lawsuit Court and Docket Numbers
Readers evaluating credibility should check the actual docket, not a paraphrase of it. The Diageo case is Avi Pusateri et al v. Diageo North America, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, No. 1:25-cv-02482-LDH-RML.
Attorneys Steve Berman of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro and Robert Tolchin of The Berkman Law Office represent the plaintiffs, and Diageo had not yet entered an appearance in court as of the filing.
| Case | Court | Docket Number |
|---|---|---|
| Diageo (Casamigos/Don Julio) | E.D.N.Y. | 1:25-cv-02482-LDH-RML |
| Costco (Kirkland Signature) | Federal court (Costco venue) | Not yet publicly confirmed in reviewed sources |
| Teremana | Illinois state/federal | Not yet publicly confirmed in reviewed sources |
| Lunazul | Not yet publicly confirmed | Not yet publicly confirmed |
Attorney Insight: Attorneys handling these claims caution that sites listing a docket number for every brand case without a court source behind it are usually filling in a template.
Tequila Lawsuit Motion to Dismiss Status
Every one of the four cases sits at the same procedural stage as of mid-2026: unresolved motions to dismiss. Diageo denies every allegation and has moved to dismiss all three suits, and as of June 2026, the court has not yet ruled.
Costco’s motion to dismiss was filed April 21, 2026, with the plaintiffs’ opposition due June 2, 2026. That means a ruling was still pending as of this writing.
No brand has reached class certification. No brand has reached settlement negotiations that have been made public.
Attorney Insight: Attorneys handling these claims note that a motion to dismiss ruling against the plaintiffs would not necessarily end the case, since amended complaints are common in this posture.
Tequila Class Action Certification Process
Certification is the procedural gate that turns an individual complaint into a case that can bind an entire class of buyers. None of the four tequila cases has cleared that gate yet.
A judge must find the proposed class meets numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy requirements under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. Only after certification does a case typically move toward a claims process.
- Step 1: Complaint filed, motion to dismiss briefed
- Step 2: Court rules on dismissal
- Step 3: If case survives, discovery and class certification briefing
- Step 4: Certification ruling
- Step 5: Settlement negotiation or trial
Attorney Insight: Attorneys handling these claims say uniform labeling language across all bottles of a given brand, as alleged here, tends to make certification easier to argue than cases involving varied individual sales pitches.
Tequila Lawsuit Settlement Status
There is no settlement in any of the four active tequila cases as of July 2026. This is the single most important fact competitor pages get wrong.
Several sites publish specific payout ranges and claim deadlines for these cases. Based on the court filings and law firm case pages reviewed for this article, none of those figures currently exist in the public record.
| Case | Settlement Status |
|---|---|
| Diageo (Casamigos/Don Julio) | None; motion to dismiss pending |
| Costco (Kirkland Signature) | None; opposition brief due June 2, 2026 |
| Teremana | None; damages demand filed, not awarded |
| Lunazul | None |
Attorney Insight: Attorneys handling these claims warn that any site advertising a specific settlement check amount for these brands right now should be treated with skepticism.
Tequila Lawsuit Payout Expectations
Because no settlement exists, a real payout figure cannot be stated. What can be described honestly is the damages theory driving these cases.
Plaintiffs in the Diageo case allege damages tied to the price premium paid for a “100% agave” bottle versus its actual composition, with the amount in controversy alleged to exceed $5,000,000 across the proposed class. The Teremana complaint separately requests damages in excess of $5,500,000 for its own proposed class.
Those are aggregate class-wide figures, not per-consumer payout estimates. Any per-bottle number circulating online right now is a guess, not a court figure.
Attorney Insight: Attorneys handling these claims generally decline to estimate individual payouts before a settlement fund exists, since per-claimant amounts depend on how many people ultimately file claims.
Tequila Lawsuit Filing Deadline
There is no claim filing deadline in any of the four cases, because no claims process has opened. A deadline only exists once a settlement or judgment creates one.
Consumers concerned about preserving their own individual rights should still track their state’s statute of limitations for consumer fraud claims, which typically runs two to four years depending on the state and the date of purchase.
- No claim form currently exists for any brand
- No administrator website currently processes tequila lawsuit claims
- Watch official court dockets or law firm case pages for actual settlement notices
Attorney Insight: Attorneys handling these claims recommend saving purchase records now, since documentation gathered early is harder to reconstruct later if a settlement does eventually open a claims window.
How Carbon Isotope Testing Proves Tequila Fraud
Carbon isotope ratio testing is the scientific method underlying every one of these complaints. The lawsuits rely on carbon isotope ratio testing, a method that can identify the botanical source of ethanol in spirits, since different plants produce different isotope signatures.
Agave is a specific type of plant with a distinct photosynthetic pathway, which leaves a measurable isotopic signature in the alcohol it produces. Cane sugar-derived alcohol carries a different signature entirely.
This is closer to how forensic labs trace substances than to typical marketing litigation, which is why several firms describe the evidence as unusually objective for a consumer fraud case.
Attorney Insight: Attorneys handling these claims say lab-based proof like this reduces a defendant’s ability to argue the dispute is just about consumer perception rather than fact.
Which Attorney Handles a Tequila Lawsuit
Consumer protection and class action attorneys are the ones actively litigating these four cases. Firms currently involved include Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro and Baron & Budd, P.C., both firms with dedicated consumer fraud practices.
A reader considering legal options should look for an attorney focused specifically on consumer protection class actions and false advertising claims, rather than a general personal injury practice. The legal theories here involve statutory consumer fraud claims and warranty law, not bodily injury.
- Practice area to look for: consumer protection / false advertising class actions
- Not the right fit: personal injury attorneys without consumer fraud experience
- Relevant experience: prior food and beverage labeling litigation
Attorney Insight: Attorneys handling these claims say the strongest cases combine a documented purchase, the specific label language photographed or saved, and a timeline that falls within the named class period.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a real tequila lawsuit in 2026?
Yes, there are four active class action lawsuits.
They target Diageo, Costco, Teremana, and Heaven Hill Distilleries.
None has reached a settlement as of July 2026.
Which tequila brands are being sued?
Casamigos, Don Julio, Kirkland Signature, Teremana, and Lunazul are named.
Each brand faces its own separate complaint.
The allegations are similar across all five brands.
What court is hearing the Diageo tequila lawsuit?
The lead Diageo case is in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
The docket number is 1:25-cv-02482-LDH-RML.
Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall is presiding.
Has any tequila lawsuit reached a settlement?
No settlement has been reached in any of the four cases.
All remain at the motion to dismiss stage as of mid-2026.
Any site listing a specific payout figure is not describing a confirmed court outcome.
Who qualifies to join a tequila class action?
Consumers who purchased the named brand within its stated class period may qualify.
Financial harm from an alleged price premium is the injury claimed, not physical injury.
Exact eligibility depends on which brand’s case a consumer purchased under.
What kind of attorney handles a tequila lawsuit?
Consumer protection and class action attorneys handle these cases.
Firms like Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro and Baron & Budd are currently involved.
A general personal injury attorney is not the right fit for this type of claim.
Closing
Four tequila brands now face active false advertising suits, and every one of them is still fighting a motion to dismiss. No payout exists yet.
Anyone who bought Casamigos, Don Julio, Kirkland Signature, Teremana, or Lunazul should save receipts now. Once a case clears dismissal or reaches settlement, a documented purchase record will matter far more than a guess about what it might be worth today.
