Legal battle to remain open continues
by Dennis Rahm; File photo
Slidewaters Waterpark in Chelan learned Tuesday that their federal lawsuit seeking to remain open during the COVID-19 pandemic has been rejected. The Judge dismissed the case with prejudice indicating the matter cannot be brought again to the federal court.
Slidewaters has indicated the legal battle will continue in Chelan County Superior Court as the State of Washington has requested an injunction that seeks to stop Slidewaters from operating during the pandemic.
Slidewaters has until this Friday to respond to the injunction filed by the State and the case will then be assigned a court date. The Freedom Foundation, representing Slidewaters in their efforts to remain open, said in a news release on Wednesday that they are disappointed by the Court’s ruling and that they have filed an appeal with the Ninth Circuit.
“The Freedom Foundation stands by our clients’ rights to operate their business in a safe manner, and the local health department deemed their re-opening plan was sound, before the state government got involved”, said Freedom Foundation VP of Communications and Federal Affairs, Ashley N. Varner.
Chelan County remains in a modified version of Phase 1 COVID guidleline restrictions. The waterpark, after being cleared by a health department inspector, opened to limited capacity on the third week of June. It’s anticipated Slidewaters will continue to operate through the next round of legal battles.
