D.C. bar loses case against Trump and his hotel

[brooklynite]

Source: Politico

A Washington bar has come up dry in its David-versus-Goliath legal challenge to what it claims is unfair competition from President Donald Trump and his luxury hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon on Monday dismissed the suit brought last year by Cork Wine Bar, alleging that Trump was using his official position to increase business for the Trump International Hotel, including from foreign officials and embassies eager to cozy up to the administration.

However, Leon ruled that actions like using the White House to promote a family business are part of the rough-and-tumble of the free market and don’t constitute a violation of the District of Columbia’s common-law ban on unfair competition, even if they ultimately hurt competing firms like Cork.

“Unfortunately for Cork, ‘competition is not a tort….’ Nor should it be,” Leon wrote. “To hold actionable Cork’s allegations in this case, I would be condemning a wide swath of legitimate business conduct. … I would be foreclosing all manner of prominent people — from pop singers to celebrity chefs to professional athletes — from taking equity in the companies they promote. Indeed, I would be reading the ‘unfair’ right out of ‘unfair’ competition. This I cannot do!”

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/26/dc-bar-trump-hotel-court-case-1017273

[happy feet]

1. As a non-lawyer, I don't understand the basis of the decision.

The White House is not a business. It houses the POTUS and is owned by the people of the United States. So how can the current occupant use his status as President/White House for competitive advantage gaining foreign clients to his privately owned property???? This is legitimate business conduct?

[brooklynite]

2. I think the point is that, if one has contacts (from whatever source), one can use them for business

[onenote]

6. Correct. This was not an emoluments lawsuit. It was an unfair competition suit. And not a good one.

[allgood33]

3. If you want a different ruling you would have to have HRC or BC making money this.

[onenote]

5. You might want to rethink your post

Since this wasn't an emoluments case. It was a case alleging unfair competition (i.e., that the restaurants and bars at the Trump hotel in DC had an unfair advantage over the plaintiff wine bar because of those facilities association with the president of the US.

In the opinion of most lawyers, it was stone-cold loser of a lawsuit from day one.