Local woman named in chickpea lawsuit

SANDPOINT ­— A Washington state agricultural products company is suing a Bonner County woman for allegedly accepting nearly $50,000 worth of chickpeas and then dodging the bill.

Hinrichs Trading, a limited liability corporation in Pullman, is seeking damages against Erin Diedrick for fraud, unjust enrichment and breach of contract, according to a suit filed in 1st District Court on July 26.

Counsel for Hinrichs said Diedrick, also known as Heather Driscoll, placed an order for 50,000 pounds of chickpeas in February 2016.

Payment was due within 30 days of receiving the shipment, but Diedrick failed to pay up, the suit alleges. The company agreed several months later to fulfill a second shipment of chickpeas despite not being paid for the first, but the bill for the second shipment also went unpaid, the suit said.

Hinrichs’ Coeur d’Alene attorney, John Magnuson, said in the suit that Diedrick’s company, Idaho Bean & Elevator Co., was insolvent at the time the orders were placed. He argues Diedrick lacked the means and/or intention to pay Hinrichs the $48,450 owed.

“Defendant Diedrick has ignored the corporate formalities associated with Idaho Bean, treating Idaho Bean as a personal instrumentality for her own benefit, and the court should enter declaratory relief adjuding and decreeing that defendants are one in the same,” Magnuson wrote.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.