Judge Tosses Lawsuit Brought By Aunt Jemima Heirs

Last August, two men who claimed to be the great-grandsons of Anna Short Harrington, the face of Aunt Jemima, filed a suit against PepsiCo and the Quaker Oats Company claiming that the defendants failed to pay royalties to Harrington’s estate and stole her pancake formula. 

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim.  “Plaintiffs do not allege that they are authorized to act as executors or administrators of Harrington’s estate, or even that such an estate exists (or ever existed),” Chang wrote. “The only information about Plaintiffs’ connection to Harrington provided by the amended complaint is an account of how Hunter received a photograph (now lost) of Harrington from his grandmother and of Plaintiffs’ attempt to locate Harrington’s grave in Syracuse, New York.”

See Two Aunt Jemima Heirs Get Their $3 Billion Lawsuits Tossed By Judge, EurWeb, Feb. 19, 2015.