Nebraska Supreme Court rules anti-tanning campaign did not defame tanning businesses

Source: Omaha World-Herald, September 2019

LINCOLN — A group of Nebraska tanning salons has gotten burned in its attempt to fight an anti-tanning campaign.

The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit claiming that the campaign, The Bed is Dead, had defamed the salons and disparaged their business with “false or misleading” statements.

While calling the decision disappointing, a tanning industry spokesman said the suit succeeded in discouraging local radio stations from playing the campaign’s public service announcements and in prompting the campaign to tone down its statements.