Judge tosses lawsuit against Cabela's

Judge tosses lawsuit against Cabela's
by Lori Pilger

A federal judge in Lincoln has tossed out a lawsuit rooted half a world away in South Africa regarding a squabble of business partners over hunting safaris and cast a net to include Nebraska-based Cabela's.

"To say the least, this is an unusual case," U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf wrote in his order Wednesday.

The genesis, he said, was Texan Scott Anglin's 2002 hunting trip in South Africa with Barry Burchell's Frontier Safaris, which he booked through Cabela's Outdoor Adventures Inc.

In a lawsuit filed in December, Anglin sued Burchell, the guide and Cabela's Outdoor Adventures, alleging they had violated racketeering laws and intentionally inflicted emotional distress, a claim under Texas law.

In summarizing the case, Kopf said at some point Burchell and Anglin formed some kind of business or personal relationship, and Anglin began investigating the way Burchell operated the safari business.

Burchell sued Anglin in South Africa. Anglin counterclaimed for fraud, "and the parties have been vigorously litigating against each other in South Africa ever since."

A trial on Burchell's original claim is set for later this year.

In the lawsuit filed in Nebraska, Anglin alleged Burchell overcharged his clients and lacked permission to hunt on certain lands and that he tried to tell Cabela's Outdoor Adventures. He alleged that, in response, they retaliated against him, through Burchell's lawsuit in South Africa.

In Wednesday's order, Kopf said he was dismissing the case because the actions underlying Anglin's claim occurred in South Africa, beyond the reach of U.S. racketeering laws, and because a Texas court has held that filing a lawsuit against someone does not constitute intentional infliction of emotional distress.

A spokeswoman for Cabela's did not return a call seeking comment Thursday.



Source: JournalStar.com