Lawyers have moved to strike a lawsuit that alleges the Olympia Food Co-op’s boycott of Israeli goods was unfair and violated the co-op’s rules and bylaws.
A motion filed by attorneys with Davis Wright Tremaine in Seattle and by attorneys with the Center for Constitutional Rights asserts that the lawsuit is a “Strategic Lawsuit Against Pubic Participation.” So-called SLAPP lawsuits are illegal under Washington statute.
“We hope the court will strike down this effort to silence the co-op’s principled stand on Israel’s human rights violations,” said Maria LaHood, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, in a news release. “Allegations that the co-op’s board acted beyond its power are a thinly veiled attempt to stop concerned citizens from using a nonviolent and historical tool for social change.”
The lawsuit, filed in September, is aimed at nullifying the co-op’s July 2010 boycott of Israeli goods and ordering “the OFC board to follow OFC’s governing rules, procedures and principles in the future,” according to the suit.
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