Residents in Macomb, Illinois are raising their glasses to Circuit Court Judge William Henderson, who dismissed the civil lawsuit that retail giant Wal-Mart filed against the city. This week Mayor Mick Wisslead showed members of the City Council the court order dismissing the case. Wal-Mart sued the city last year, when officials refused to issue Wal-Mart a liquor license for their supercenter. The company filed a second lawsuit with the Illinois Liquor Control Board, but that body ruled that it had no jurisdiction over the case. The Wal-Mart lawsuit sought to have the courts set aside the city’s action and award a liquor license to the superstore. Wal-Mart accused Macomb of being discriminatory in issuing liquor licenses to other stores, while denying Wal-Mart’s application.
It is not clear why Wal-Mart dropped their case, but their aggressive actions against the city hopefully will remind Macomb taxpayers to find some other place to shop.
Wal-Mart’s legal action forced the city’s taxpayers to retain a lawyer at public expense, and fight off Wal-Mart for a year. Perhaps drunk with its own power, Wal-Mart may have believed that local officials would not resist their legal attack, but in the end, it was Wal-Mart that had to stagger off without their liquor license in hand. How many retailers would sue the city that is hosting one of their stores? Wal-Mart stands out as one of the most litigious corporations doing business in America today.
