NEW ORLEANS – Former New York Yankees pitcher and two-time World Series player Tom Guidry is suing Louisiana Lightning and a food distributor in a dispute surrounding Guidry’s trademarked nickname, “Louisiana Lightning.”
Ronald “Louisiana Lightning” Guidry filed a lawsuit Dec. 11 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against Louisiana Lightning LLC, Farm Fresh Food Suppliers Inc. and Matthew D. Dufour, alleging violation of trademark and cybersquatting laws and unjust enrichment.
According to the complaint, Guidry earned the nickname after an announcer called him “Louisiana Lightning” in a 1978 game between the Yankees and the California Angels. Since then, Guidry claims he trademarked the named, offering commercial endorsements that have generated substantial goodwill.
In 2013, the suit says the defendants developed and began marketing whiskey under the Louisiana Lightning name, using it on bottles, cases and other point of sale materials and in advertising without Guidry’s consent.
Guidry seeks a jury trial and damages. He is represented by attorneys Michael Q. Walshe Jr., Lesli D. Harris and Bryant S. York of the New Orleans firm Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann LLC and by Sean A. Moynihan and John E. Greene of Klein Moynihan Turco LLP in New York.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District Case number 2:15-cv-069714