Washington judge hands food companies $1 million legal tab

Published 9:23 am Thursday, March 2, 2017

A Washington state judge has ordered the Grocery Manufacturers Association on Wednesday to pay nearly $1.1 million in legal fees, adding to the record-setting $18 million fine she levied in November against the trade group for campaign disclosure violations.

Thurston County Superior Court Judge Anne Hirsch awarded the amount sought by the attorney general’s office. Hirsch ruled last year that GMA broke state law by failing to identify the food and beverage companies that contributed to a campaign in 2013 to defeat Initiative 522.

The measure would have required the packaged-food industry to label products that have genetically modified ingredients. The initiative, seen as setting a precedent for other states, was narrowly defeated.

Hirsch imposed by far the largest fine ever in the U.S. for a campaign disclosure commission.

GMA has told the court it will appeal.

“The awarding of costs and fees is part of the normal process of a case,” a GMA spokesman said in an email. “GMA has filed notice of appeal of the decision against it and the excessive penalty, and will be filing its brief citing the reasons that the judgment and fines were in error.”

The attorney general’s office issued a statement noting that Hirsch ruled the state’s request for attorney fees was reasonable. The office billed GMA up to $499 an hour for the time state attorneys spent on the case.

“The record-setting penalty illustrates how egregious GMA’s conduct was. It has been a multi-year effort to hold them accountable,” Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a written statement.

GMA will collect some legal fees from the state for prevailing on one issue. A state law requiring that a political committee receive $10 donations from at least 10 Washington voters before contributing to another political committee was ruled unconstitutional.

GMA sought nearly $400,000 in attorney fees for winning that argument, but Hirsch ruled the request was unreasonable and ordered the amount reduced by about two-thirds.

I-522 provoked the most expensive political campaign in state history. Some $42.5 million was spent for and against the measure.

GMA channeled $11 million from its political-action fund to the “no” campaign. GMA reported itself as the donor, but did not identify the individual companies that contributed to the fund until the Public Disclosure Commission started an investigation shortly before the election.

The attorney general’s office also won a $319,281 judgment against Food Democracy Now for failing to identify donors who contributed to the “yes” campaign. The state sought and received $93,000 in legal fees in that case.

The Iowa-based anti-GMO group has also filed a notice that it will appeal.

GMA asked Hirsch in January to reconsider the $18 million fine, arguing it was cruel and unusual punishment, according to court records. Hirsch ruled the motion was filed too late and noted that the state asked for a $43 million fine, triple the total amount GMA collected in 2013 for its political-action fund.

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