OLYMPIA, Wash. (Legal Newsline) – The Washington Court of Appeals has affirmed an $18 million penalty against the Grocery Manufacturers Association.
The Nov. 9 decision rejects the appeal of a Thurston County Superior Court’s decision reached nearly four years ago that tripled a $6 million penalty. GMA is now known as Consumer Brands Association.
State Attorney General Bob Ferguson examined GMA when looking into the finances of opposition to voter Initiative 522, which would have required labeling of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, in food sold to consumers.
Ferguson said GMA – through members like PepsiCo, Nestle and Coca-Cola – funneled millions into the opposition without disclosing the source of the funds.
The appeals court found the penalty imposed by Ferguson was not excessive and not the product of selective enforcement of campaign finance laws.
“GMA argues that its violations caused minimal harm because the voting public knew that GMA’s contributions were coming from grocery manufacturers and GMA did make the required disclosures before the election,” Judge Bradley Maxa wrote.
“And GMA notes the trial court’s finding that it was impossible to know if GMA’s violation affected the outcome of the election.
“We conclude that the harm GMA caused with its FCPA violations was substantial. The harm was that GMA undermined the transparency of the ballot proposition measure and intentionally denied the voters information related to substantial campaign contributions from otherwise unidentified parties over an extended period of the election season.”
Ferguson says evidence he gathered showed an intentional effort to conceal the sources of contributions to “No on 522.”