Copyright Charleston Post and Courier
CHARLESTON – A federal judge has tossed a lawsuit against 40 Charleston-area restaurants by the South Carolina Shrimpers Association challenging the advertising of where their shrimp came from. The Oct. 30 dismissal by U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel brings an end to a months-long dispute between Charleston’s shrimping industry and restaurant scene that was locally nicknamed “Shrimpgate.” The nonprofit organization sued the restaurants in June, alleging the various eateries of marketing their shrimp as “local” when a third-party study found the shellfish was imported product. The Shrimpers Association also accused the restaurants of violating South Carolina's Unfair Trade Practices Act and the Lanham Act, a federal law that prohibits false advertising. The 40 restaurants involved in the lawsuit initially went unnamed. The complaint was later amended to identify 25 of the defendants. A handful of restaurants and seafood purveyors agreed to settle with the Shrimpers Association shortly after the suit was filed. But some restaurants pushed back. After months of back-and-forth, several of the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in late September. In the dismissal order, Gergel ruled that the Shrimpers Association failed to state a viable claim and lacked constitutional standing to sue the restaurants. Gergel wrote it would be “highly unlikely” for the organization to be damaged financially by the alleged false advertising because the association is not a commercial entity. Robert Wyndham and Stephen Brown represented Saltwater Cowboys, a popular spot on Shem Creek in Mount Pleasant that was named in the lawsuit. Wyndham characterized the suit as an unfounded attack on local restaurants. “A lot of businesses were offended that a shrimp association — a charitable organization that doesn't sell shrimp and obviously didn't have any legal standing to do this — would sue 40 local businesses,” Wyndham told The Post and Courier. “It was a baseless lawsuit against hard working local business owners that serve the Charleston community.” Wade Boals, owner of Saltwater Cowboys, said in a Nov. 3 press release that Gergel’s decision “reinforces what we’ve known all along – that our local restaurants operate with honesty and integrity.” “We’ve always supported our local shrimpers and will continue to do so whenever the opportunity arises,” Boals said. Gedney Howe IV, attorney for the Shrimpers Association, said he and his clients were “deeply disappointed” by the dismissal. “The fact that the case was dismissed due to lack of standing, in an early stage of the case, without having an opportunity to litigate the matter on its actual merits, is particularly difficult. This is emblematic of the uphill struggle the shrimpers of South Carolina have faced for years in trying simply to protect themselves and their way of life,” Howe said in a written statement. For the Shrimpers Association, the fight is far from over. Bryan Jones, a McClellanville-based shrimper and vice president of the association, likened the dismissal to a slap in the face. “We'll continue fighting, not only for our shrimpers, but for the community and for the consumer,“ Jones said. “This ruling shows that there still continues to be no accountability.”
