Grass seed lawsuits ruling now set for Friday

Several rulings on motions in the Scotts grass seed law suits were issued Friday in Whitman County Superior Court.

Several other pre-trial disputes, which had been slated for a court hearing Friday, are now on track to be settled in the pre-trial process.

Scotts is being sued for $8.5 million by Seeds Inc. of Tekoa and Dye Seed Ranch of Pomeroy who allege the company did not pay them contracts for Kentucky Bluegrass last year. Scotts contends grass growers overstated production volumes and gave the company low-quality seed.

The two seed processing companies were initially sued by those same growers, who contend they were not paid by the processors. The processors, Seeds Inc. and Dye Seed Ranch cross-suit contends they can’t pay the growers until Scotts pays them.

Judge David Frazier has yet to rule on a Jan. 3 request by Pullman attorney Tim Esser to issue an outright ruling against Scotts before the trial.

Esser sought the judgment for the millions said due on the seed deliveries. Esser represented Seed Inc. of Tekoa in the Jan. 3 session which filled the courtroom with growers and other spectators.

Judge Frazier said he expects to issue a ruling on the judgment motion Friday.

Friday, Judge Frazier denied a motion, filed by Scotts attorney Matthew Turetsky of Seattle, to dismiss the seed companies’ suit.

The judge also dismissed motions to dismiss the suit and to move the trial to another venue.

Turetsky said Whitman County court was an improper venue to resolve the dispute. Also denied was a pre-trial motion by Turetsky to sever the parties.

The court did issue a protective order to Scotts to limit circulation of the company’s agreements with Dye and Seeds Inc.

Attorneys are prohibited from disclosing the agreements to third parities and are required to get written consent from staff members, legal associates and expert witnesses to keep the agreements confidential during pre-trial preparation.

Turetsky had also asked the court to limit pre-trial deposition sessions for three Scotts employees to one session each and to limit the requests for documents that may be needed for review at those sessions. The three out-of-state witnesses at one time had been slated to give depositions at a Spokane office of one of Dye’s attorneys.

A Dye attorney had countered with a motion for the court to compel the three employees to appear at the Spokane law office as slated.

Judge Frazier said the attorneys are now working out a settlement of the pre-trial disputes on employee depositions and document requests.

A deposition involves pre-trial questioning of potential witnesses for the record with attorneys for both sides present.

Attorneys request the pre-trial sessions to develop a record of possible evidence which can be presented at trial.

The court Friday did conduct a short hearing on a motion to compel the Scotts employees to testify which was filed by Seeds, Inc.

The motion was denied in light of the pending settlement of the other pre-trial disputes by the other parties.