The Oddly Specific Reason Big Lots Was Sued Because Of Its Coffee

For those of us not numerically inclined, mandatory math classes may have seemed like torture, and the truth is, you probably won't be using a lot of advanced algebra or trigonometry in your day-to-day life once you graduate. Basic math skills, however, are pretty necessary, since the ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide will help you order a bigger, juicier burger (hint: ⅓ pound is more than ¼ pound) and also figure out whether you're being overcharged for the always-unpopular automatic gratuity, which has been known to happen. In the case of one unhappy Big Lots customer, the ability to calculate even led to a lawsuit. They did the coffee math and found it wasn't mathing.

The customer alleged that a 24-ounce canister of Fresh Finds 100% Arabica medium-dark roast Colombian coffee could only make 152 cups' worth, despite the label clearly stating that the amount of coffee contained therein could make 210 servings using one tablespoon per six ounces of water. One to two tablespoons for a six-ounce serving is considered the best ratio of coffee grounds to water, you see. Since 152 is just 72% of 210, that leaves 28%, or almost one-third, of the coffee unaccounted for, according to the lawsuit. The 2023 legal suit was intended as a class action, so individual payouts would have depended on the total number of people who claimed to have been affected. As it turned out, though, no one collected a dime.

The lawsuit against Big Lots was thrown out of court

In 2024, the Big Lots lawsuit was found to be frivolous and subsequently dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Despite the plaintiff's claim that laboratory analysis confirmed her coffee math, the defense pointed out that the label included an alternate instruction for brewing larger batches of coffee that would require less than a tablespoon per cup. By those calculations, they stated that it would be possible to make 210 cups.

Not only did the plaintiff not receive a payout, but the court ordered the attorney who had filed the suit to pay the defendant $144,047 to cover its attorney's fees. The attorney, Spencer Sheehan, filed an appeal, but an August 2025 ruling denied the appeal, so he still owes Big Lots big bucks at the time of writing. Even so, he might have gotten off lightly. It seems that he has a history of filing similarly groundless lawsuits, something the courts don't appreciate, and has stated that he has no intention of stopping this practice despite being warned that sanctions will be taken if he continues.

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