Mardi Gras Headache Ends in Court Print
Thursday, March 09 2017

Mardi Gras season has come to a close, and so has a lawsuit relating to a New Orleans krewe that wanted to throw t-shirts from its parade floats.

Just in time for the Mardi Gras parades, a civil court judge in New Orleans dismissed a lawsuit filed by a former member of the Mystic Krewe of Nyx that sought to enjoin the krewe from throwing signature t-shirts during the February 22 parade.

Attorney Taetrece Harrison, former member, alleged that the 2016 krewe captain, Julie Lea, stole her idea of throwing t-shirts after she left the organization. In an action filed in court, Harrison sought to have the krewe enjoined from being able to throw t-shirts because she said when she initially brought up the idea it was rejected. To support her claim, Harrison noted that Lea offered her $200 for the idea, which she says shows "there's some value to the idea that's presented." Lea countered that the offer was for the designs Harrison proposed for the t-shirts, not the idea of throwing them.

Just days before the parade, Judge Sidney Cates IV dissolved a lower court's order banning the t-shirt throw and dismissed Harrison's suit. The attorney for the krewe argued that Harrison had not proved she sustained "undue stress" or negligent or intentional "infliction of emotional distress" and refuted the notion that Harrison's shirt throw idea was original.

"It's quite common knowledge in this city that Mardi Gras krewes have been throwing T-shirts for years and years and years, so that's just not an original idea," the krewe's attorney said.

After Judge Cates ruled, noting that he was not "comfortable issuing an injunction because of undue stress," Harrison reportedly left the courtroom, calling Lea a "thief."

Source: nola.com