370 results for 'cat:"Defamation"'.
J. Zainey denies a request by Walmart to dismiss as time-barred an overnight stocker’s malicious prosecution and defamation suit. She argues the clock on her claims did not begin running until after a city prosecutor dismissed Walmart’s theft claims. The store had her arrested for twice purchasing multiple packages of newly marked-down meat after her shift ended. In neither instance did she alter the pricing labels, and she paid full price for the meat. Walmart may raise its prescription argument later.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Zainey, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv6441, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Employment, defamation
J. Leinenweber grants a veterinary clinic’s motion to dismiss a fertility clinic’s copyright claims, finding the fertility clinic has failed to show that consumers would likely confuse its trademarked PROOV ovulation testing device with the veterinary clinic’s OvuPROOF ovulation testing device. The court also dismisses the veterinary clinic’s counterclaim for defamation, but allows its counterclaims for defamation and misrepresentation to proceed.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Leinenweber, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv3854, NOS: Copyrights - Property Rights, Categories: Copyright, defamation, Technology
J. Wiley finds that the trial court properly denied special anti-SLAPP motions on most of a condo resident's defamation claims against his neighbors. The neighbors' emails furthered a personal dispute and did not contribute to a discussion of public issues. They were not sent to the general public, but were confrontational attempts at shaming the condo resident. And homeowners' association debates usually involve private issues, and are not per se connected to public issues. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Wiley, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: B317061, Categories: Anti-slapp, defamation
J. Matsumoto dismisses a defamation lawsuit against a couple, who run a website and YouTube channel, and allegedly made defamatory statements about a North Carolina maker of tabletop role-playing games. The court finds the majority of the statements, some of which amounted to nothing more than name-calling, would merely be interpreted as opinions and thus are too subjective to be actionable.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Matsumoto, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv5686, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: defamation
J. Doty partially grants the wire service's motion to dismiss the oil and gas company founder's suit alleging that a story the wire service published incorrectly implied that he had been convicted of criminal activity rather than saying that he had been held civilly liable. It would be premature to determine on the current record whether the founder is a limited-purpose public figure, but he has nevertheless plausibly alleged actual malice. He has adequately pleaded defamation, defamation per se and defamation by implication, but has abandoned an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Doty, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 0:23cv2983, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: defamation, Emotional Distress
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J. Docherty denies the pillow magnate and his company's motion to reconsider an order on their earlier motion to compel, partially grants their separate motion to compel, and grants their motion to amend the scheduling order in the voting machine company's suit against them alleging that they made defamatory claims in disputing the results of the 2020 presidential election. The original ruling on the earlier motion to compel was not in error, and the motion for reconsideration is not properly before the court. The motion to compel is timely as to four of its requests for production, but not for two others, and of the four timely-challenged requests, the voting machine company must supplement its disclosures for one.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Docherty, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv98, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Elections, defamation, Discovery
J. Rochon grants the investment firm founder's motion to lift the stay on his defamation suit against a former director over statements he made about the firm to the SEC. This action is not duplicative of the proceeding in Florida, so the director has not shown that lifting the stay of this action would impair his interests.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Rochon, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv10791, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Civil Procedure, defamation
J. Schock finds the lower court erred in denying anti-SLAPP special motions to dismiss an election technology employee’s conspiracy claim and properly dismissed his defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress for allegations the Trump Campaign made during the 2020 election campaign. The defendants’ accused the employee of stating he had “made sure” President Trump would not win by taking steps to interfere with the results. A broadcaster continued sharing and tweeting “information that is so vital to understanding the systemic stealing of our election.” The court holds that the Trump Campaign may be responsible for tweets sent by Trump and his son. Therefore, the tweets are remanded for further proceeding and for determination of attorney fees and costs. Affirmed in part. Reversed in part.
Court: Colorado Court Of Appeals, Judge: Schock, Filed On: April 11, 2024, Case #: 2024COA35, Categories: Anti-slapp, Elections, defamation
J. Guzman finds a company director did not breach her fiduciary duties when she cut off her brother, the company creator’s, access to company accounts. The company creator is not a company shareholder or officer.
Court: USDC Massachusetts, Judge: Guzman, Filed On: April 11, 2024, Case #: 4:21cv40060, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fiduciary Duty, defamation, Contract
J. Brown finds that the trial court properly ruled in defamation claims stemming from statements made to the chief of the fire department at which plaintiff volunteered about plaintiff's prior arrest for impersonating an officer because plaintiff failed to demonstrate that information in the sheriff's department database, or statements made to his employer about his arrest, had been false. Affirmed.
Court: Indiana Court Of Appeals, Judge: Brown, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 23A-PL-2229, Categories: Employment, defamation
J. Gonzalez finds that the lower court properly dismissed a businessman's SLAPP suit against the AP for reporting on his vicious custody dispute. The article included threatening text messages sent by the businessman threatening to kill his wife, video footage of him doing drugs, and audio of him using racist language. None of the alleged defamatory statements are actionable because they are protected by fair reporting privilege, and are substantially true. The matter shall be remanded for a calculation of mandatory attorney fees. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Gonzalez, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 01898, Categories: Anti-slapp, defamation
J. Nichols grants the communications conglomerate's motion to dismiss the right-wing broadcaster's counterclaims seeking indemnification in a suit brought by a voting machine company alleging that the broadcaster defamed the voting machine company in connection with the 2020 presidential election. The broadcaster has not pleaded facts tying this suit to allegedly disparaging statements made by the conglomerate's subsidiaries or its former board chair, nor presented a plausible theory as to why those statements would have influenced the voting machine maker to sue the broadcaster. Non-disparagement provisions in the broadcaster's contract with the communications conglomerate, therefore, do not create an obligation to indemnify the broadcaster. Tortious interference claims also fail, since the broadcaster has not plausibly alleged that the board chair was acting as an agent of the voting machine company or its majority owner when the communications company's subsidiary satellite TV provider dropped the broadcaster.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Nichols, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv2130, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Elections, defamation, Indemnification
J. Cote grants the Anti-Defamation League's motion to dismiss the Nation of Islam's complaint alleging the non-profit has repeatedly defamed the group by labeling it anti-Semitic. The non-profit pressured Ticketmaster not to sell tickets for the group's yearly benefit, and caused a university to refuse the group's request to use its facilities as a venue. The Nation of Islam cannot prove that the non-profit's assertions are false, as its letter to Ticketmaster directly quotes Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan using the phrase "satanic Jews." Other challenged statements made by the non-profit are non-actionable opinion.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Cote, Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv9110, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: defamation
Per curiam, the Vermont Supreme Court finds the trial court properly struck and dismissed a pro se complaint regarding defamation, libel, false light, and negligence claims against a newspaper and its journalist. The individual argues that the court abused its discretion when the newspaper and its journalist were awarded $14,741.80 in attorney fees and costs under Vermont’s anti-SLAPP statute. When the court ruled on the motion to strike, the fees were mandatory. Affirmed.
Court: Vermont Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: 23-AP-338, Categories: Anti-slapp, defamation, Attorney Fees
J. Roman finds for the school district on a student's defamation and civil rights claims stemming from his five-day suspension for posting a photo of himself in a parking lot while his friend knelt above him with the caption "Cops got another" one day before the jury returned a verdict in Derek Chauvin's trial for the murder of George Floyd. The student received death threats after posting the photo, which was decried as racist, and the incident was a substantial disruption to the school, sparking a student demonstration and a school assembly. The district has an interest in maintaining order within its schools and therefore did not infringe on the student's free speech rights by disciplining him.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Roman, Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: 7:21cv6008, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, defamation, First Amendment
J. Conner grants pet retailer Chewy a writ of certiorari after the trial court denied a protective order to prevent deposition of its CEO in claims alleging corporate libel and defamation because evidence does not indicate the CEO possesses personal, unique information pertinent to litigation.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Conner, Filed On: April 3, 2024, Case #: 4D2023-2967, Categories: defamation, Discovery
J. Williams partially grants a fire department, its president and another member’s motion for summary judgment in this employment dispute brought by a couple that were former volunteer firefighters. The couple alleges unlawful expulsion, retaliation against the exercise of free speech, defamation, defamation per se and tortious interference with a beneficial relationship after the department suspended them for harassing and assaulted the other member. The couple attended hearings, but the bylaws did not allow them to attend the expulsion meeting held before they were able to submit additional evidence. The couple cannot establish that they were in fact employees, nor that they received any remuneration before the expulsion, or that they experienced an actual loss after the expulsion. The defamation and defamation per se claims are ready to proceed to trial, the president and member e-file a joint status report.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Williams, Filed On: April 1, 2024, Case #: 3:20cv1677, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, defamation
J. Reeves partly grants an honor society’s motion to dismiss counterclaims of defamation and misleading representation filed by a Nevada corporation, claiming they are intentionally misleading students with having similar trademarks. The defamation counterclaim regarding the challenged statements in a press release is dismissed, as well as the tortious interference counterclaim.
Court: USDC Southern District of Mississippi , Judge: Reeves, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv208, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Trademark, defamation, Business Practices
J. Perez grants a bank’s motion to dismiss a Black pro se litigant’s case alleging that the bank engaged in racial discrimination, profiling, and defamation. The litigant failed to present evidence to support any of his claims.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Perez, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv5084, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Civil Rights, defamation, Banking / Lending
J. Tinsley grants the power management company's motion for judgment on the pleadings and motion to strike the former employee's first amended complaint of breach of contract for when the company terminated this employment for his alleged refusal to lie, and defamation when the company filed a police report accusing him of absconding with a company-issued laptop. Both the breach of contract and wrongful termination claims the former employee made in his original complaint and one for promissory estoppel he substituted in his first amended complaint are futile since he put a misplaced reliance on the company's code of conduct as "an express or definite promise to alter the at-will employment relationship."
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Tinsley, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv567, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, defamation, Contract
J. Blakey grants an asset management firm and its executives’ motions to dismiss counterclaims brought against them by one of the firm’s former managers. The asset management firm sued the former manager for breach of contract, fraud and trade secret misappropriation over his alleged lies to clients and intentional sabotage of business relationships. The former manager shot back with counterclaims of defamation, tortious interference and breach of fiduciary duty, but the court finds he has not sufficiently alleged any of these claims.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Blakey, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv4269, NOS: Other Fraud - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Tort, defamation, Interference With Contract
J. Jackson grants the employer's motion to dismiss the employee's suit alleging that she was terminated for taking medical leave after her son was shot and that her supervisors defamed her. The employee, a pro se litigant, has failed to state any of her claims.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Jackson, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv2249, NOS: Family and Medical Leave Act - Labor, Categories: Employment, defamation, Employment Discrimination
J. Dever grants a female student’s motion to transfer litigation from North Carolina to Louisiana in a suit she brought against a male student for sexual assault. Both students attended Tulane University in Louisiana at the time of the alleged assault, although the male student now resides in North Carolina. After the female student initiated litigation against the male student, he counter-sued for defamation and also sued Tulane for breach of contract as he was dismissed from the university one month before graduation. Weighing all factors in the case, the litigation involving the female student will be transferred to Louisiana where the suit against Tulane is already taking place.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Dever, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 5:22cv500, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Education, defamation, Assault
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court properly granted the company's motion to dismiss an attorney's claims that its counterclaim in an underlying action amounted to defamation. The challenged document requests were pertinent to the company's counterclaims, and the alleged defamatory statements were not so outrageous as to lead one to assume it was motivated only by the intent to defame. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 01759, Categories: defamation
J. Tsuchida partially denies dismissal of the company owner's complaint that the hacker conference organizer imposed a lifetime ban on him by falsely accusing him of admitting to repeatedly sexually harassing people. The owner alleges sufficient facts to state claims of defamation related to a transparency report announcing his ban and to an update to DefCon's website referring to the owner's behavior.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Tsuchida, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1932, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: defamation, Interference With Contract, Jurisdiction
J. Cruser finds that the lower court improperly issued an order granting attorney fees in a defamation case. The group moving for the fees did not adhere to a 10-day timeline in which attorney fees are requested, and as a result, their motion was untimely and should have been denied. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Cruser, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 58155-8-II, Categories: defamation, Attorney Fees