Ocean City topless debate heads to federal court

The topless issue that created a firestorm for Ocean City officials this summer is heading to court after a lawsuit filed Tuesday challenges the town's emergency ordinance prohibiting women on the beach from going topless.

Salisbury resident Chelsea Eline, who previously used the pseudonym Covington in interactions with local officials and with Delmarvanow.com, filed a suit in U.S. District Court with four other women that claims Ocean City's emergency ordinance is unconstitutional. Tuesday's filing in court makes Eline's real name public.

Along with Eline, the plaintiffs include Rose MacGregor, of Salisbury; Megan Bryant, of Anne Arundel; Christine Coleman, of Long Island, New York; and Angela Urban, of Pittsburgh. 

The lawsuit seeks a ruling that the ordinance violates an equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution and the Declaration of Rights to the Maryland Constitution. 

"This lawsuit is about confirming the legal right of women to be bare-chested, in public, in the same places that men are permitted to be bare-chested, for purposes other than breastfeeding," the lawsuit reads.

It claims that gender classification does not further government interest, but increases the idea that women are viewed as "inherently sexual objects."

The defendants named in the suit include the town; Mayor Rick Meehan; Emergency Services Director Joe Theobald, who oversees the beach patrol; and police Chief Ross Buzzuro.

The lawsuit lists several examples of precedence for the plaintiffs' claims. In the most recent example, a federal district judge in Fort Collins, Colorado, ruled against enforcement of ordinances attempting to make female toplessness illegal.

MORE: Judge: Women can go topless in Fort Collins

The question began during the summer of 2016 when the beach patrol was contacted by Eline, under the pseudonym Covington, who believed it was her legal right to bare her chest on the Ocean City beach.

Covington is an advocate for “top freedom,” the stance that women should be able to appear topless in public, as do men.

The issue over toplessness was previously sent to then-Worcester County State’s Attorney Beau Oglesby, who then sent a request for an opinion from the Maryland attorney general.

BACKGROUND: Ocean City council passes emergency ordinance banning nudity on beach

But with no ruling sent by summer 2017, the question arose again after the beach patrol issued a memo on June 6 to instruct lifeguards on how to deal with a potential complaint.

Within a few days, town officials were inundated with phone calls after the memo circulated on social media. By June 9, the town had to issue a statement that "Ocean City is not a topless beach and will not become a topless beach."

Officials called an emergency meeting the following day to pass an ordinance that stated: “There is no constitutional right for an individual to appear in public nude or in a state of nudity."

Unanimously passed by the council, the new ordinance took effect immediately on June 10, clarifying that anyone showing “the female breast with less than a fully opaque covering” would be violating the law –– and subject to a fine of up to $1,000.

At the time, Eline noted that federal courts elsewhere in the country have ruled against similar laws.

"Ocean City seems to feel that the Constitution does not apply to them, but a high court will decide," she said last summer.

MORE:Toplessness in Ocean City about equal rights for woman behind the controversy

The following week on June 14, the Maryland Attorney General's Office weighed in with a letter of advice, writing their view that "Maryland courts would prohibit women from exposing their breast in public" while allowing men to do the same, which would not violate the federal or state Constitution. 

Three days later, Eline then retained Devon Jacob, a national civil rights attorney to represent her, Jacob Litigation announced in a press release.

“It is disheartening that a few small towns and cities still attempt to make ignorance the law. Ms. Covington and I intend to end discrimination against females in Ocean City,” Jacob said at the time, referring to Eline's alias. “We will fight to make Ocean City a safe place for everyone to enjoy equally.”

In addition to asking for a judgment that the town's ordinance violates the Constitution, the plaintiffs seek a halt to the town's ordinance during litigation, an order removing the defendants from enforcing the ordinance, attorney's fees and costs and any discretionary damages and relief that the court deems reasonable and just. 

"My clients and I look forward to litigation of this case to its rightful conclusion — that being the enforcement of the equal protection clause on behalf of the citizens of Ocean City and the state of Maryland," Jacob said Wednesday.