The former midway operator for the State Fair has sued the new midway operator, plus the fair's entertainment director, alleging an unlawful restraint of trade.
Deggeller Attractions Inc. of Martin County, Fla., filed the suit Tuesday in Little Rock's U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas.
The defendants are North American Midway Entertainment-Southeast, and Darrell Desgranges.
The Arkansas State Fair Association isn't named as a defendant but is prominently featured in the suit's narrative.
Ralph Shoptaw, the fair's general manager, said Friday that he was aware of the suit but hadn't read it. "I'm kind of uninformed right now," he said.
He said the lawsuit wouldn't affect this year's fair, which has expanded from 10 to 11 days and will run from Oct. 12 through Oct. 22.
"I don't know why it would," he said. Switching midway operators "was the best business decision to make, and we'll continue on."
Shoptaw said Desgranges lives in Michigan, where he works for Meridian Entertainment of Lansing, Mich., and Indianapolis. He's the booking agent for the fair's entertainment but not an employee of the fair, Shoptaw said.
Desgranges, reached by telephone, declined to comment.
The fair announced in January that it had switched midway operators and would expand to 11 days. The new carnival operator is based in Farmland, Ind. Amy Girton, its director of communication and media relations, was in Little Rock for the announcement.
Girton also declined to comment on the litigation.
"We are excited and look forward to the 2017 Arkansas State Fair," she said in an email.
The suit seeks damages "in excess of $75,000, exclusive of interest, costs and attorneys' fees ... ."
Deggeller Attractions had been the fair's carnival operator for the previous 22 years. North American Midway Entertainment and the fair have a five-year contract, Shoptaw said in January.
In the suit, Deggeller says Desgranges had worked for the company for 20 years, specifically at the Arkansas State Fair, and had intimate knowledge of the company's operations.
Desgranges left Deggeller in 2014 and "immediately began working with" North American Midway Entertainment, where he shared his knowledge of Deggeller's business practices and contracts, the suit says.
North American Midway, the suit says, then used this knowledge to cause the fair to terminate the last year -- 2017 -- of a three-year contract with Deggeller.
The lawsuit says, "Deggeller representatives saw Desgranges having dinner with Shoptaw and Danny Huston, [North American Midway Entertainment] Southeast's general manager, at Doe's, a well-known restaurant in Little Rock."
"Desgranges and [North American Midway Entertainment] Southeast's action constitutes an unlawful restraint on trade," the suit said.
In January, Girton said North American Midway is the largest traveling amusement park in North America, staging about 143 events attended by 15 million people each year.
Metro on 02/11/2017