Co-op lawsuit filed by losing candidates

The Olympian article on the Superior Court suit to nullify the Olympia Food Co-op’s decision not to sell products from Israel until that country ends its military occupation of Palestine, left out a couple of important facts.

First, three of the people bringing the lawsuit ran for election to the Co-op’s board of directors – and lost by substantial margins. The winning candidates had all been endorsed by proponents of the boycott, making the election somewhat of a referendum in support of the co-op’s action to remove Israeli goods from its shelves.

Second, why go to court when you could simply ask for a vote of the membership to overturn the decision? The opponents have refused to pursue that approach which is offered by the co-op rules.

It may be that, given their failure to win seats on the board, they fear the membership would confirm the boycott.

Asking the court to step in to nullify a decision by the co-op suggests that, if you can’t get your fellow co-op members to agree with you, then drop out of the conversation and try to intimidate them with an expensive legal action.