RecklessBen has requested that his lawsuit from Bricks & Minifigs should move to federal court, after a state judge declined to sign a modified version of an order blocking his latest video.
Ben Schneider paused coverage of a dispute over an alleged $200,000 consignment deal – including his personal feud with the company – after Bricks & Minifigs (BAM) served him with a defamation lawsuit earlier this month, which included a temporary restraining order (TRO) that allegedly prevented the YouTuber from releasing the third video in his ongoing series.
Last week, however, both parties asked the court to convert the TRO into a preliminary injunction. This would still have forced Schneider to cease interfering with BAM stores, trespassing or staging confrontations, but would apparently have allowed him to discuss the case across social media platforms including YouTube and TikTok.
But Utah County 4th District Judge Tony Graf Jr. declined to sign the order, citing that the section blocking Schneider from coming within 100 yards of franchisees' and employees' stores and homes was 'very broad', as the YouTuber would have found it difficult to comply without full awareness of those locations.
Schneider's attorneys have now submitted a notice of removal for the lawsuit at Utah County’s 4th District Court, moving it to the US District Court for the District of Utah, on the grounds that the parties involved are situated in different states and that the money involved is greater than $300,000.
BAM sued Schneider and others following his series of high-profile YouTube videos that accused the franchise operation of stealing a LEGO Star Wars collection allegedly valued at $200,000 (a figure that has since been disputed). Bryan Mansell has claimed that the Salem-Keizer, Oregon branch of the franchise refused to honour a consignment deal for the collection when new owners took control of the store.
The case will now be sent to federal court, so this update should not be considered a resolution to the lawsuit. There's also a chance it may be sent back to state court. And for the time being, the temporary gag order on RecklessBen's coverage does not appear to have lifted, so the long-mooted third part of his video series still hangs in limbo.
BAM has denied responsibility for any consignment deal Mansell may have had in place with former Salem-Keizer store owner Chrystal Law-Gorman, stating that its franchise agreements do not include consignment arrangements. The company has since parted ways with the branch’s new owners and shuttered the store permanently, publicly telling Mansell that ‘whatever Star Wars LEGO remains… you can have it’.
Schneider’s video coverage of the situation so far has included attempting to serve store owners with lawsuits at their homes, for which the YouTuber is facing misdemeanour criminal charges including trespassing, stalking, targeted residential picketing and disorderly conduct. He has also published videos concerning alleged constitutional violations during encounters with the American Fork Police Department.
At the time of writing, the wider dispute between Mansell and Bricks & Minifigs remains unresolved. You can find a timeline of the entire situation so far here.
Featured image: BAM/RecklessBen
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