Plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against Mountaire Farms are asking a Delaware Superior Court judge to impose a gag order to prevent either side from talking about the case in the media.

Chase Brockstedt, attorney for Gary Cuppels and 749 other plaintiffs, asked Commissioner Alicia Howard Oct. 26 to impose the order in response to what Brockstedt called an aggressive public relations campaign by Mountaire against his clients. He said the Mountaire campaign, if allowed to continue, will prejudice a potential jury pool for a trial.

Brockstedt said his clients have stopped talking publicly and are letting the proceeding go forward, but Mountaire is still placing ads and posting to social media about the case. He said Mountaire’s ads have implied that he and co-counsel Phil Federico are out for money, and that his clients are out to shut down Mountaire. Brockstedt said neither was the case.

Mountaire attorney Michael Arrington said a gag order is pointless, since both sides have not only brought the case into the public domain, but the plaintiffs still have web postings up attacking Mountaire.

“The horse is out of the barn,” he said.

The case began when Cuppels and his wife began experiencing gastrointestinal issues. Brockstedt said shortly after this, the Cuppels received a pallet of water “from your friends at Mountaire.” He said Cuppels contacted him and questioned whether his stomach issues were related to his drinking water. From there, Brockstedt said, he and his firm started an investigation, consulting with experts to determine if there were health-related issues concerning the Mountaire plant in Millsboro.

When word of his investigation reached Mountaire, Brockstedt said, the company began a PR offensive with three components: first, that the plant had a one-time upset leading to some contamination of the water supply. Second, that nitrates in the water were the result of Sussex County’s history of agriculture and the poultry industry, not due to Mountaire specifically. And finally, that exposure to nitrates did not have adverse health effects.

Included in Mountaire’s PR blitz, Brockstedt said, were a town hall event and full-page ads in local newspapers. He said his clients were unnerved by Mountaire’s tactics and held a press conference of their own, which included the experts the plaintiffs had consulted, as well as comments from the attorneys. A press release was also issued.

Brockstedt said since then, his clients have maintained silence because they would like to try the case in court and not in the public sphere.

“There’s a time to litigate this case, and it’s in this room,” he said.

Brockstedt asked Howard to impose an order mandating no comments from either side to news outlets and no more social media messages or advertisements.

In arguing against Brockstedt’s motion, Arrington said it would be impossible for Brockstedt and Federico to keep 750 people from talking and just as difficult for the court to enforce it. Besides, he said, the plaintiffs have already held a press conference and much of the material they presented there is still in the public domain.

“They have already materially prejudiced things,” Arrington said.

He said the plaintiffs are trying to stop Mountaire, one of the largest employers in the state, from talking, even though the plaintiffs’ information is readily available. Brockstedt responded that Arrington has repeatedly noted Mountaire’s status as a large employer to imply that the plaintiffs are trying to take the company down, a prejudicial comment that could taint the jury pool.

Brockstedt said he had no problem asking media outlets to take down the plaintiffs’ press release that is still available online. In Arrington’s view, however, that is too little, too late.

“You can’t ask for a gag order after you’ve already violated it,” he said.

Howard told the attorneys she would be issuing a ruling within a few days.