DATE: Saturday, September 20, 1997          TAG: 9709200332

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY SONJA BARISIC, ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   41 lines

PETA FILES REQUEST TO DISMISS SUIT BROUGHT BY RESEARCH LAB

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals on Friday asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit by a pharmaceutical testing company against the animal rights group.

Huntingdon Life Sciences Inc.'s lawsuit accuses PETA of lying to infiltrate the company's lab in East Millstone, N.J., and spy on its operations.

PETA contends the lawsuit's three allegations of racketeering lack merit and should be thrown out. The remaining 14 claims, including trespassing and breach of contract, belong in state court, the motion said.

The motion ``brings the focus back to the heart of the case . . . : did our investigator trespass and did she violate her employee contract, which are small-potato complaints,'' said Ingrid Newkirk, president of the Norfolk-based animal advocacy group.

Telephone messages seeking comment were left for David Sump and Donald Schultz, local attorneys for Huntingdon. The lawsuit is scheduled for trial Dec. 8.

Huntingdon sued after PETA released to the company's clients a videotape showing technicians at a Huntingdon lab performing tests on monkeys.

Huntingdon claims PETA investigator Michele Rokke lied to get a job cleaning cages at the lab, and secretly made videotapes and photocopied documents during her eight months there. The lab said employees were required to sign a confidentiality agreement.

In July, the court ruled that PETA had obtained information about the lab fraudulently and could not release any of the information pending the lawsuit's outcome.

On Aug. 21, the company dropped four claims against PETA, including a charge that PETA stole trade secrets and disrupted business.

On Sept. 3, a judge threw out part of the lab's lawsuit, ruling it was ``a stretch'' for Huntingdon to claim that PETA was a competitor with an interest in harming its business. KEYWORDS: PETA

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