370 results for 'cat:"Defamation"'.
J. Simon partially dismisses the coach's complaint that the school district and others accused the coach of sexual harassment and fired him to cover up the extramarital affair of another coach. The coach's defamation claim currently fails because it is unclear if it is time barred and the coach does not provide details about the allegedly defamatory statements. The coach can file a second amended complaint if he believes that he can cure the deficiencies.
Court: USDC Oregon, Judge: Simon, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv1923, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, defamation
J. Casper denies a man with a criminal past’s motion to dismiss claims brought against him by a website owner, who the former criminal sent threatening emails to and published critical content about after the webmaster published information about his criminal history. The webmaster met the burden of showing he has plausibly suffered more than $75,000 in damages.
Court: USDC Massachusetts, Judge: Casper, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv10134, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Public Record, Damages, defamation
J. Chesler allows plaintiff to continue counterclaims contending a developer's Facebook and Instagram "smear campaign" harmed the software incubator's personal and business standing in the industry and violated the non-disparagement clause of the parties' contract. At this stage, allegations of reputational damage are sufficient, and text messages indicate the developer alleged the incubator ran a Ponzi scheme and stole from him.
Court: USDC Western District of New York, Judge: Chesler , Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv6116, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: defamation, Contract
J. Russo remands to state court the property owner's state law claims to state court alleging that the city defamed him when it arrested him for a crime he did not commit and published his mugshot before dropping all charges. The property owner's state law claims are best suited for resolution in state court given the length and circumstances of his arrest and detainment, and because the property owner brought the claims under state law against the city and its employees.
Court: USDC Oregon, Judge: Russo, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv1838, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Property, defamation, Jurisdiction
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J. Fallon denies a Texas-based alcoholic beverages distributor’s request to dismiss a negligence and defamation suit brought by a former driver. He alleges 16 months after he left the company, a lawyer for his ex-employer falsely informed a U.S. Department of Transportation website he refused to take a drug test. The allegations “just barely” support a defamation claim of reckless disregard for the truth.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Fallon, Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: 2:24cv304, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Employment, Negligence, defamation
J. White finds that the appeals court properly reversed the trial court's decision in a defamation suit over emails sent by defendant's agents to the plaintiff corporation's chief revenue officer and two board members alleging "rampant accounting improprieties" and purported mafia connections. The emails may qualify as defamatory even though they were only sent to members of the corporation itself. There is publication to a third party when an allegedly defamatory statement is communicated to a member of a corporation's executive leadership team. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Supreme Court, Judge: White, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 129227, Categories: Corporations, defamation
J. Rose dismisses a case in which a Canadian bakery alleges that an Ohio woman conducted a cyberbullying campaign in which she defamed the establishment to her 16,000 TikTok follows, claiming that her ex-husband who was delinquent on his child support married one of the owners of the bakery. The bakery says her posts generated numerous negative comments and bad reviews. The court lacks diversity jurisdiction.
Court: USDC Southern District of Ohio, Judge: Rose, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv135, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Damages, defamation, Jurisdiction
J. Pedersen finds in this interlocutory appeal that the lower court properly denied the appellant's dismissal motion, which he filed pursuant to the Texas Citizens Participation Act. The complaint asserts a claim for defamation against the appellant based on an alleged Facebook post about another attorney. The appellant argues that the statement "involved a matter of public concern because it was about legal services," but his argument is unpersuasive. Accordingly, he failed to show that the claim was based on the exercise of his right to free speech. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Pedersen, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 05-22-01148-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, defamation
J. Howell mostly dismisses defamation claims against the widow of the former CEO of a game publisher following a dispute between that publisher and a video game developer over “persistent issues” with the game, “The Outbound Ghost.” The developer can proceed with one part of its defamation claim after the widow claimed on social media that the developer had “sabotaged” efforts to fix the game, which “both parties seemingly agree” is not true.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Howell, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv1302, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: defamation, Contract
J. Lipman partially grants the plaintiff company's motion for a preliminary injunction in this lawsuit brought under the Lanham Act and the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, alleging that a former employee "engaged in a variety of tortious activities" against the company. The company's motion is granted as to its negligence per se and defamation claims, as the company is likely to succeed on the merits of those claims and the issuance of an injunction will "also serve the public interest."
Court: USDC Western District of Tennessee , Judge: Lipman, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv2186, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Negligence, defamation
J. Trauger grants the media defendants' dismissal motion in this defamation lawsuit brought by an attorney alleging that a pair of articles placed him "in a false light." The articles concerned the attorney's role in a separate lawsuit against the National Rifle Association. Certain statements and implications "are protected by the fair report privilege," however, while others are "not capable of conveying a defamatory meaning."
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Trauger, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv1017, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Communications, defamation, Privilege
J. Sannes preserves claims for hostile work environment and Title IX gender discrimination against St. Lawrence University, who was sued by a sociology professor who claims she was drugged and raped by a fellow professor at his off-campus home. The court finds the complaint successfully imputes liability for the sexual assault onto the university under Title XI on the basis of deliberate indifference before and after the assault, and further sufficiently alleges that the alleged perpetrator’s actions after the sexual assault were threatening and constituted a hostile work environment. Additionally, the court trims a countercomplaint filed by the alleged perpetrator and preserves a single claim for defamation regarding Facebook posts she made alleging she was a victim of rape.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Sannes, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 8:23cv426, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, defamation, Assault
J. Scott grants a teen cheerleader’s father’s motion to dismiss in this nuanced defamation suit wherein the mother of a squad member of his daughter’s harassed his daughter by sending anonymous text messages to the cheerleading gym’s owner, alleging the teenager was vaping, drinking and posting revealing pictures online. The mother failed to state a claim for defamation by saying she was falsely accused in the media by the father of creating deepfakes of the girl.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Scott, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv147, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Tort, Immunity, defamation
J. Martinez upholds the lower court's refusal to dismiss a doctor's defamation claims against a pain management company with which she was once a member. The company fails to show the investigatory agency to which it allegedly defamed the doctor was involved in the administration of the functions of part of the government and, thus, immune. Affirmed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Martinez, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 04-22-00749-CV, Categories: Health Care, Immunity, defamation
J. Brown grants the former colleagues' motion for partial summary judgment in a defamation action against the former attorney arising after he falsely accused them of criminal extortion in social media posts. The colleagues had threatened to sue the attorney if he did not accept a settlement demand arising after he failed to pay them under fee-splitting agreements. The threat to sue did not constitute extortion and no reasonable jury could find that the partners threatened to publicly question the attorney's mental health or interfere with his efforts to convince President Trump to award Richard Jewell the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The colleagues were not limited-purpose public figures. The parties' motions to seal are denied.
Court: USDC Northern District of Georgia, Judge: Brown, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv1073, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: defamation
J. Caldwell rules in part for city and police defendants in civil rights and negligence claims contending plaintiff had been misdiagnosed as overdosing on drugs after collapsing at work. Upon being discharged in a delirious state, plaintiff was arrested for trespassing at the hospital, but evidence does not indicate the city or officers either conspired to harm plaintiff or defamed him.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Kentucky, Judge: Caldwell, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv52, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Negligence, defamation
J. McKinnon finds that New York's fair report privilege, not Montana's, applies to a Montana resident's defamation claim against the New York Post. Statements published by the Post were fair and substantially accurate reports of underlying court proceedings, so the trial court erred in holding that a jury would have to decide their fairness and accuracy. The Post article made clear that allegations that the resident kept a harem, committed sexual assaults, engaged in bribery and planned a murder were contained in civil complaints. The fair report privilege protects reporting even if the allegations prove to be false, reporters are not required to independently investigate allegations made in an official proceeding, and colorful or hyperbolic characterizations of proceedings are protected if substantially true. Reversed in part.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: McKinnon, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0512, Categories: defamation, Choice Of Law, First Amendment
J. Wise finds that a new trial is necessary for a widow's claims stemming from the depiction of her dead husband in the TV show "Ghostly Encounters." The widow provided enough evidence for a jury to find that the show improperly alleged that the husband had sexually abused boys without attempting to verify that information or to include any disclaimers that the show was only for entertainment and should not be taken at face value. However, there was not enough evidence to support the widow's defamation claim. Because it cannot be assumed "that the verdict was based only on [the widow's] claims that were properly submitted to the jury," the entire verdict must be reversed. A new trial is ordered for the widow's invasion of privacy and tort of outrage claims. Reversed.
Court: Alabama Supreme Court, Judge: Wise, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: SC-2023-0132, Categories: Tort, defamation, Privacy
J. Campbell partially grants the various dismissal motions filed in this defamation lawsuit brought by a former seminary professor and his wife, who allege that the Southern Baptist Convention published "a false narrative" about them. Their claims are dismissed against a former Lifeway executive and the parent company of an investigator for lack of personal jurisdiction. Lifeway's dismissal motion is granted for failure to state a claim.
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Campbell, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv478, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: defamation, Jurisdiction
J. Campbell mostly denies the Southern Baptist Convention's motion to dismiss in this defamation lawsuit stemming from a "highly publicized report" that allegedly featured the former president of the Southern Baptist Convention in a misleading way. The Southern Baptist Convention fails to show that the former president was a limited-purpose public figure, as nothing in the complaint suggests that he voluntarily injected himself into a sexual abuse controversy or the events surrounding the report. However, his defamation per se is dismissed as duplicative of his defamation claim.
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Campbell, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv243, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: defamation, Emotional Distress
J. Zimmerer finds that the trial court should have dismissed the homeowner's direct defamation claims against the homeowners' association (HOA) pursuant to the Texas Citizens Participation Act. The homeowner failed to establish a prima facie case of defamation against the HOA since she gave no evidence that it "published any statements about her." Reversed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Zimmerer, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: 14-23-00509-CV, Categories: Anti-slapp, defamation
J. Tijerina finds the lower court properly granted summary judgment to the bar in this lawsuit filed by a patron asserting claims for slander and intentional infliction of emotional distress after he was allegedly removed from the premises by a bouncer based on a complaint by another patron. The bar sufficiently established its qualified privilege defense, as the communication at issue was made by the bar's employees and there was no evidence of malice. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Tijerina, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: 13-22-00287-CV, Categories: defamation, Emotional Distress
J. Domenico dismisses pro se defamation claims for lack of proper service upon defendant, who had not evaded service.
Court: USDC Colorado, Judge: Domenico, Filed On: March 6, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv1769, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Civil Procedure, defamation
J. Ecker finds the lower court's order granting the police officer's request for a bill of discovery does not become a final judgment until the parties agree on the scope of the discovery order related to IP addresses of internet commenters; therefore, this court lacks jurisdiction over the blog operator's appeal, which must be dismissed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: Ecker, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: SC20699, Categories: defamation, Jurisdiction, Discovery