SeaWorld lawsuits may prove difficult to win

Experts call fraud cases unusual

SeaWorld is fighting five lawsuits from customers who say the company misled them about treatment of its whales, but several legal experts say the cases may be difficult for the plaintiffs to win.

“It’s just highly unlikely it’s ever going to result in a case that goes to court,” said Lyrissa Lidsky, a professor who teaches tort law at the University of Florida.

The cases are unusual, experts say, Plaintiffs say that SeaWorld defrauded them by portraying its whales as thriving — a topic that has been fiercely debated since the 2013 anticaptivity documentary “Blackfish,” which paints an unflattering picture of SeaWorld.

The first lawsuit was filed in March by the same law firm representing John Hargrove, a former trainer who wrote a book critical of SeaWorld. Hargrove is not part of the lawsuit, though some claims in the lawsuit echo those in his book. The lawsuit, which seeks classaction status, calls for SeaWorld to “cease its unfair business practices” and refund customers’ money.

Since then, similar suits have popped up in Florida, Texas and California. Two of the California suits are likely to be combined.

SeaWorld said in a statement that the suits are “part of an animal rights agenda that seeks to close zoos and marine mammal parks. The claims in these suits are baseless and an unfortunate example of how the judicial system can be misused by those in search of radical outcomes.”

Stephen Berman, the plaintiff ’s attorney in the original SeaWorld complaint, said his case is no different from other consumer-fraud lawsuits.

“I don’t think it matters whether it involves animals or defective cars or products that are advertised as natural and it turns out they are not,” he said.

Attorneys and professors pointed out a few different challenges for plaintiffs.

In the first lawsuit, consumers are arguing that “every ticket sold was worthless and every theme park experience for every customer is worth zero,” said David Hathaway, an Orlando attorney who represents corporations at Dean Mead. “That ’s a stretch.”

Meanwhile, George Washington University law professor Joan Schaffner said plaintiffs would have to show specific statements that SeaWorld made about the care of their animals and prove them false. And then, “they do have to show reliance they in fact went to SeaWorld because of those statements, which is also, I think, a little tough to prove,” Schaffner said.

In general, filing lawsuits dealing with animals’ wellbeing can be difficult. The Animal Welfare Act doesn’t include a provision allowing citizens to sue companies directly to enforce it. The Endangered Species Act does, but SeaWorld’s orcas are not covered under that, said Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist with the Animal Welfare Institute.

Often “you have to find humans who were injured as a result of something that happened to an animal,” Schaffner said. “That’s why you see these … very creative ways of getting issues before the court using the vehicle of the human.”

Some similar lawsuits have gotten results, however.

Perdue Farms, Inc. and the Humane Society of the United States last year announced the settlement of two federal cases over Perdue’s “humanely raised” labeling on its Harvestland chicken after Perdue agreed to remove the wording. Kroger settled a similar lawsuit last year, agreeing to remove “raised in a humane environment” labeling from its Simple Truth chicken.

Consumer-protection suits can be ““incredibly useful” in fighting for animal rights, PETA animal law director Jared Goodman said.

One lawsuit against SeaWorld, in state court in California, was organized by the nonprofit environmental group Earth Island Institute.

It could be “tough” to persuade a jury on some parts, said Mark Palmer, associate director of Earth Island Institute’s International Marine Mammal Project. Still, he said, “I think we have enough information from the insiders who were in SeaWorld as well as expert witnesses who are experts on behavior of orcas in the wild and captivity. I think we’ll give them a run for their money.”

The environmental group worked on its lawsuit for nine months and sought out potential plaintiffs.

Some “were friends of friends,” Palmer said. Others were found through surveys.

“They have all gone to SeaWorld and thought it was a great thing,” Palmer said. Then, “we showed them ‘Blackfish’ and they said, ‘Oh, this is outrageous.’”