When the Hawaiian Environmental Protection Authority banned adis shoes from the city, the NBA was forced by the state to step in and sue the company.
Now, a lawsuit against adidas and the state of Hawaii will go to trial, a battle that has already pitted the NBA’s business in Hawaii against the local community.
The lawsuit is a major win for the local shoe company, which has already spent more than $1 billion on litigation in its efforts to keep adidas shoes off the streets of Honolulu.
A local shoemaker sued to block the adidas sneaker ban, claiming that it had no choice but to pursue a lawsuit to stop the sneakers.
It wasn’t until Adnan Nader, an environmental activist, began organizing to protest the city’s restrictive footwear regulations that adidas stepped in to help.
Adnan Nada has filed a lawsuit challenging the Hawaiian state’s ban on adidas products.
He has accused the company of illegally restricting the rights of residents to breathe, and has called on the courts to declare the restrictions unconstitutional.
The company, Nader said, will spend $100 million to defend its products in Hawaii.
“We’re very concerned that adis sneakers are on the streets in the city of Honolulu,” Nader told the Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday.
“The laws are clear.
They’re not going to allow people to breathe.”
The lawsuit filed by Nader and the League of Conservation Voters on Wednesday comes on the heels of an unsuccessful court challenge to the adis-ban.
The court case, which was heard in December, focused on the constitutionality of the ban and whether the state’s environmental review board had the authority to make that determination.
In a filing with the court, Nada’s attorneys argued that adi-snakes, the products used by Nada, were banned under a statute that requires public agencies to have an environmental review process to determine whether to allow or not to allow a product.
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Paul Stuckey, said in a court filing that the adi snakes, which are often used in outdoor sports, are protected by the Constitution and the law.
“The plaintiffs claim that these products are a violation of the Hawaii Constitution and are therefore unlawful under Hawaii law,” Stucker wrote in a filing.
“They further claim that the plaintiffs have no viable legal claims to enforce their rights under the Constitution or the law.”
Adidas, which owns the NBA and many other professional sports teams, is an international brand that is the most valuable in the world.
The league has more than 25 million fans worldwide.
The company has spent more in legal fees than in adidas revenues in its four-year fight against the Hawaii law.
The NBA filed a motion last year asking the court to dismiss the suit, arguing that the law was based on a faulty interpretation of a court decision from 2010 that determined that the state had authority to regulate footwear.
The case is expected to go to court next month.
Adidas has also filed an amended complaint to the Hawaii Supreme Court asking for an injunction on the state law, saying that it was intended to regulate the sale and manufacture of footwear, not the products themselves.
The injunction request has not been filed yet, and a judge in the Hawaii Superior Court did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nader is hopeful that the case will ultimately be resolved, but he noted that a decision will be made on whether the Supreme Court will hear the case.
Adrian D. Lee, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said he expects a decision soon on whether to intervene in the case and would file a response to Nader’s motion for a temporary restraining order.
Nader has been fighting the state in court since last summer, when the state barred him from selling his shoes in public, citing the state constitution.
“They want to punish me for wearing shoes, they want to force me to buy new shoes, and they want people to buy the shoes from my old friends in the NBA,” Nada said.
“We’re not happy about that.
They need to go away.”
Adi-Snakes in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser/AP file photo
