JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — A former merchant contends that selling merchandise branded with slogans and pictures critical of President Barack Obama got him evicted from an East Tennessee mall.

The Johnson City Press reports that Dan Fuchs (FYOOKS') filed a lawsuit against The Mall at Johnson City, seeking damages for lost profits and emotional stress he says stem from the mall terminating the lease for his kiosk.

Fuchs said a mall manager told him the lease was terminated because he was selling anti-Obama slogans on T-shirts and coffee cups and not also selling pro-Obama merchandise.

The general manager at The Mall at Johnson City, Tembra Aldridge, said she was aware of the lawsuit but she declined comment. The mall owner, Glimcher Realty Trust in Columbus, Ohio, did not return a telephone message Wednesday.