In a move that gained international attention, tech tycoon Elon Musk spotlighted the city of Wichita Falls when his company, X Corp, filed a lawsuit against major advertisers and a global advertising association in the city’s federal court. Musk’s X Corp chose Wichita Falls as the legal battleground in August of the previous year.
Some of the entities Musk is taking legal action against have voiced displeasure with the decision to host the lawsuit in Wichita Falls, according to court records. To them, New York or Dallas appear to be more suitable locations for the suit.
The lawsuit was initiated in the Federal Court of the Northern District of Texas and implicates that the accused companies colluded to deprive the social media platform ‘X’, managed by Musk’s X Corp, of billions of dollars in advertising revenues. The platform ‘X’ was previously known as Twitter.
Now, the World Federation of Advertisers, along with seven advertising companies named in the lawsuit, are seeking to change the venue of the court proceedings from Wichita Falls. Their request for relocation was filed on June 13.
In their filed motion, the companies’ attorneys alleged that the lawsuit bears no relationship to the Northern District of Texas, the jurisdiction in which it was filed. They stated that, none of the defendants maintain their main business premises in the state of Texas, and none of the disputed incidents took place in this location.
The motion also claims that most of the incidents in question unfolded in New York City, and a majority of the defendants either live in the Big Apple or Europe. The document further argues that none of the potential witnesses in the case reside within a 100-mile radius of Wichita Falls.
Another point the motion raises is that Wichita Falls is difficult to access for the case proceedings. The city does not have any direct flights, except from Dallas, which would necessitate further travel by car over 100 miles.
Requests have been made to move the case to New York as a primary option, or Dallas as a backup. These motions were filed on behalf of the advertisers named in the lawsuit.
Companies named in the lawsuit that are requesting the change of trial venue include Marrs, Nestle, CVS, Abbott, Colgate-Palmolive, Lego and Pinterest. Three others, namely, Orsted, Shell and Tyson, who have also been accused in the suit, have not requested the case to be relocated.
The U.S. Judge of Fort Worth recused himself from the case, and the motions in the case are currently being heard by an alternate. The case continues to see a flurry of legal motions filed, including a recent one on June 20th.
The trial for this case is yet to receive a confirmed date. Despite the ongoing debate about the location, and multiple motions filed, the case proceedings are still in progress.