It said the company lacked standing.
A judge in South Carolina has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Opternative Inc. challenging the state’s Eye Care Consumer Protection Law, which limits online eye exams.
Chicago-based Opternative had claimed the law was unconstitutional and that as a result, its technology was “effectively prohibited in South Carolina.” Opternative named the state’s Board of Medical Examiners and its Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation as defendants.
Judge DeAndrea Gist Benjamin of the state’s Fifth Judicial Circuit ruled that Opternative lacked proper standing to bring the claim. To have standing, Opternative would have to show three elements:
- That it has suffered an “injury in fact,” meaning an “invasion of a legally protected interest which is (a) concrete and particularized, and (b) actual or imminent, not ‘conjectural’ or ‘hypothetical.'”
- That “there is a causal connection between the injury and the conduct complained of.”
- That the injury “would be redressed by a favorable decision in this case.”
According to the ruling, Opternative “failed to demonstrate that it can meet any” of the elements.
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The court also noted that it “declines to address any equal protection and due process arguments in light of its conclusion that Plaintiffs fail to demonstrate standing.”
