Court to Decide If Attorney General Can ‘Personally’ Sue Arlene’s Flowers Owner

On Friday a court will decide on the preliminary matters for the case of Arlene's Flowers vs. State of Washington/ACLU. The actual trial is set to begin in 2015. One issue to be decided Friday is whether Attorney General Bob Ferguson can personally sue Arlene's Flowers owner Barronelle Stutzman.

Unlike many similar cases in court across the country,  this one could bankrupt and destroy the long-time Richland business. According to the Family Policy Institute of Washington (FPI), which is assisting in Barronelle Stutzman's legal fight, what Ferguson has done is unusual.  According to the news release last Thursday:

If you buy a car that explodes because of a design defect, you would sue the company that made the car. You would not, in the absence of exceptional circumstances, sue the families who own stock in that car company. One of the primary reasons to create a separate legal entity for a business is to protect the personal assets of the owners from the liabilities of the business. Well, Bob Ferguson apparently thinks this case is exceptional, because he sued both the company (Arlene's Flowers) and its owner (Barronelle Stutzman)."

Stutzman is one of many business owners who's being sued across the country because of their stand in favor of traditional marriage. Stutzman refused to provide flowers for a same-sex marriage because of her religious beliefs. Her attorneys are arguing -- among other reasons -- that her Constitutional rights of expression and freedom of speech do not compel her to endorse a practice that goes against her religious and other freedoms.

One of the reasons business owners usually create the legal framework to separate themselves from their business, is to protect themselves from business-related liability.  It keeps them from personally being wiped out if the business faces serious legal or financial issues, such as this.   This case, says FPI, could go on for some time, and rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. The ramifications for Stutzman could be significant if she loses, says FPI:

By suing both Arlene's Flowers and Barronelle Stutzman, Bob Ferguson could not only seize all the company's assets and bankrupt her business but, if the entire legal bill was not paid by the business assets, he could also go after the Stutzman family as well. He could take her house, her cars, her retirement, even her wedding ring. Will he do that? Who knows. But having the option is the reason he sued her personally as well as her business. Whether this is appropriate is one of the pre-trial issues that is being argued."

Experts also say depending upon whether this will be allowed when the preliminary hearing takes place next week, it could also affect upcoming similar cases. They say other AG's, groups or individuals considering similar actions could use this benchmark to add the business owner to the legal proceedings.

The hearing will be held Friday, 1:30pm in Benton County Superior Court in the Benton County Justice Center. At that time, the judge will decide whether to allow Ferguson to go after Stutzman personally as part of the suit. Some supporters of Stutzman say since this is the first such case of it's kind in Washington state, Ferguson wants to "make an example" of Stutzman, to discourage other businesses from discriminating against same-sex couples when it comes to providing goods and services.