Ohio Code 1729.68 – Prohibited acts – injunctive relief
(A) No processor, handler, distributor, or dealer, or agent thereof, who purchases or contracts to purchase any product from a person who produced the product, or procures for, sells, or otherwise furnishes inputs, services, or supplies to a person shall do either of the following:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 1729.68
- Bond: includes an undertaking. See Ohio Code 1.02
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Cooperative: means an association or a foreign association. See Ohio Code 1729.01
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Handler: means a person who acquires agricultural products under a sales contract for the purpose of processing or reselling agricultural products. See Ohio Code 1729.01
- Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- Marketing agreement: means an agreement, contract, or other arrangement between a cooperative and a member in which the member agrees to market all or a part of the products or produce produced by the member, or agrees to purchase all or a part of the member's requirements for inputs, services, or supplies. See Ohio Code 1729.01
- Member: means a person who has been qualified and accepted into membership in a cooperative. See Ohio Code 1729.01
- members: as used in this chapter with respect to the right of a member to vote, voting procedure, the required proportion of member votes, actions that are required or permitted to be taken by members, and the number of members required for a quorum, means the delegates or other members entitled to vote. See Ohio Code 1729.17
- Person: includes a natural person, partnership, corporation, cooperative, or other entity. See Ohio Code 1729.01
- Processing: means changing the physical or chemical characteristics of agricultural products. See Ohio Code 1729.01
- Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
(1) Use duress against, coerce, or boycott the person in the exercise of the person’s rights to join and belong to a cooperative;
(2) Discriminate against the person with respect to price, quantity, or quality, or other terms of purchase or sale of products or produce, services, or supplies, solely by reason of the person’s membership in or marketing agreement with a cooperative.
(B) A member or cooperative on behalf of its member or members may bring an action to enjoin any violation of this section, and, upon filing a sufficient bond, a cooperative is entitled to a temporary restraining order against anyone who violates or threatens to violate this section as set forth in the complaint in the court of common pleas of the county in which the violation occurred. Actions against different defendants may be consolidated, in the discretion of the court, if the alleged violations are of the same provision, have occurred in the same or adjoining counties, relate to the same product, service, or supply, and the consolidation can be made without prejudice to a substantial right of any defendant.
(C) Any person who solicits or persuades or permits or aids or abets, induces, or attempts to induce, any member or other person to breach a marketing agreement with a cooperative, by accepting or receiving from the member or other person, products for sale, marketing, manufacturing, or processing for sale, contrary to the terms of any marketing agreement of which the interfering person has knowledge or notice, is liable to the cooperative for damages caused by such interference, and the cooperative is entitled to an injunction against the interfering person to prevent further breaches and a multiplicity of actions.
(D) Any person that violates or threatens to violate this section shall pay to the cooperative the cooperative’s reasonable attorney’s fees and other costs incurred by the cooperative in any litigation or proceeding at law or in equity to enforce or defend the cooperative’s rights and interests that are protected under this section.