http://mondoweiss.net/2012/02/whos-who-behind-the-olympia-food-co-op-lawsuit-2.html


http://www.theolympian.com/2012/07/12/2171566/olympia-food-co-op-defendants.html

Olympia food co-op defendants awarded $160,000

A group of five Olympia Food Co-op members who had sued to overturn the store's boycott of Israeli goods must pay $160,000 in damages as a result of a judge's prior ruling that the lawsuit was an illegal "Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation," or SLAPP.

SLAPPs are defined as nuisance lawsuits that are designed to stifle free speech and create onerous legal costs for those who choose to exercise their free speech rights. SLAPPs are illegal under a state law that the defendants' attorney, Bruce Johnson and another staff attorney at Davis Wright Tremaine helped draft.
Thurston County Superior Court Judge Thomas McPhee ruled Thursday on the issue of damages that each of the 16 defendants are entitled to under Washington's anti-SLAPP statute. He ruled that each of the 16 defendants - all current or former co-op board members who voted to enact the boycott in July, 2010 - are entitled to $10,000 each.

Olympia Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement member Andrew Meyer said Thursday that McPhee's award recognizes that the Olympia Co-op acted within its rights to boycott Israeli goods until Israel secures "equal, civil and human rights for Palestinians."

Attorney Bob Sulkin, who represented the plaintiffs who sought to nullify the boycott on the grounds that the co-op did not follow its own rules in arriving at its decision, declined to comment outside court, or state whether he will appeal McPhee's ruling.

McPhee ruled that the defendants also are entitled to attorney's fees, but he did not decide on a dollar amount. Johnson said outside court that he has asked for $280,000 in attorney's fees. However, McPhee told Johnson during Thursday's hearing that he wants to see a detailed itemized account of each defense attorney's work on the case before he decides on an amount. He gave Johnson two weeks to submit detailed attorney's fees.

The plaintiffs who had brought the lawsuit seeking to overturn the co-op's boycott had argued that the co-op's board acted outside of its authority when it enacted the boycott. In February, McPhee rejected that argument, and additionally ruled that the plaintiffs' lawsuit was a SLAPP.

Sulkin had argued during Thursday's hearing that the food co-op itself was responsible for paying for damages under Washington's SLAPP statue. Sulkin said that because the plaintiffs who brought the suit are in essence "shareholders" in the "corporation" knows as the co-op, the co-op itself and not the individual plaintiffs should be responsible for damages.

"We are nominal parties, nominal," Sulkin said in court Thursday. "The corporation is the real party and interest here."

McPhee rejected Sulkin's argument. "I don't find that argument persuasive," he said. McPhee added that he is bound by the SLAPP statute enacted by the Legislature that states that each defendant in a SLAPP statute is entitled to a $10,000 award.

Sulkin also said Johnson's request for $280,000 in attorney's fees is "outrageous."

Israeli products that were removed from the co-op's two stores, one in East Olympia and the other on Olympia's West Side, include gluten-free crackers, ice cream cones and a moisturizing cream.

Jeremy Pawloski: 360-754-5445 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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