The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a ruling from the 5th Circuit Court regarding Whole Foods, agreeing with the court’s criticism of a lower district court’s handling of the case. The unanimous 9-0 opinion, authored by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, concerns a lawsuit filed in Texas by Sarah and Grant Palmquist.
The couple claimed that baby food sold at Whole Foods and produced by Hain Celestial Group harmed their child due to the presence of heavy metals associated with serious side effects.
The Palmquists sued both Whole Foods and Hain Celestial Group in a Texas court. They brought forward product liability and negligence claims against Hain while asserting state-law breach-of-warranty and negligence claims against Whole Foods, Fox5 reported.
Hain, a company operating out of Delaware and New York, sought to transfer its legal case to federal court. The request, however, presented a distinct challenge, as both the Palmquists and Whole Foods are located in Texas, and the allegations in question pertain to Texas law.
“Federal courts may exercise diversity jurisdiction only when no adverse party is from the same state, but Whole Foods and the Palmquists are all Texas citizens. As a result, the district court lacked jurisdiction as the case stood upon removal,” the court wrote in its opinion.
Hain filed a motion to have Whole Foods removed from the legal case, contending that its inclusion was unwarranted. A district court reviewed this request and sided with Hain, ultimately dismissing Whole Foods from the proceedings, Fox5 noted.
The Palmquists appealed, and the case went to the 5th Circuit Court, which overturned the lower court’s ruling. The court stated that Whole Foods had been properly included with Hain in the original lawsuit, and the case should have been addressed in state court.
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The case was then taken to the Supreme Court, which unanimously upheld the 5th Circuit’s ruling on Tuesday, sending the case back to Texas.
Tuesday’s high court ruling does not address the Palmquists’ core allegations against Whole Foods and Hain, the outlet reported.
Their original lawsuit said their child, who was just over 2 years old at the time, “was diagnosed with a range of physical and mental conditions that some doctors attributed to heavy-metal poisoning.”
“In 2021, a subcommittee of the U. S. House of Representatives released a staff report finding that certain baby foods, including Hain’s, contained elevated levels of toxic heavy metals. Following the report’s release, the Palmquists sued both Hain and Whole Foods in Texas state court,” the Supreme Court explained.
Last week, the Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s global tariff authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act on Friday in a 6–3 ruling. But within hours, Trump signed a new order from the Oval Office imposing a 10 percent global tariff under separate legal authority.
The ruling was immediately followed by action from the White House, Fox News reported. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., addressed the decision during an appearance on “Fox & Friends Weekend.”
Kennedy argued the ruling could prove politically insignificant given the timing and the revenue already collected under the tariffs. He cited $300 billion in tariff revenue collected under Trump’s trade authority.
According to Kennedy, that revenue is already in federal coffers and the trade agreements negotiated under the tariff structure have been completed.
“My Democratic peeps better be careful what they ask for because if he gives back $300 billion worth of tariff money to the business community in America, this economy’s [going to] roar, man, and the midterms are only a few months off,” Kennedy said. “Stevie Wonder could see this decision coming,”
Tariff revenue reached $30.4 billion in January alone, a 275 percent increase compared to January 2025.
