A Sampling of Cases From The Media Law Resource Center
A former University of North Dakota student was found to have stalked and harassed a physics professor and was suspended from her school. She claimed on her Web site, undnews.com, that the physics professor had harassed her with sexually provocative phone calls. The professor sued for libel, slander and interference with business relationships and won a $3 million verdict. The verdict has survived all appeals, including to the United States Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case.
In New York, according to the Media Law Resource Center: “Book author Ellen Fein, who was unsatisfied with the work that dentist Larry Rosenthal did in an effort to improve the appearance of her teeth, set up two web sites, ‘Larry W. Rosenthal is a Big Fat Liar’ (http://www.lyingdentist.com; no longer active) and ‘Why Dr. Larry Rosenthal, DDS of New York is a Very Bad Dentist’ (http://www.baddentist.com (substantially altered)), detailing her complaints.” Rosenthal then sued, reportedly for $5-million on several claims including defamation and harassment. The sites no longer exist and, according to the Media Law Resource Center, the status of the lawsuit is unknown.
In a Florida defamation case, a woman posted criticisms of a consulting firm for troubled teens on Internet bulletin boards after using the firm for her child. She was sued by the owner of the company and lost an $11.3 million verdict after failing to appear in court. In July 2007, that verdict was upheld by an appellate court.
In another Florida case, an ex-husband sued his former spouse for cyberstalking. He claimed postings on her blog and elsewhere, including accusations he had exaggerated his military record, constituted domestic violence. A court ordered that she stop posting the accusations and mandated a psychiatric evaluation.
In a Virginia lawsuit, a couple whose son had been expelled from a school for honor code violations set up a Web site criticizing the school. The school sued, the couple was ordered to take down the site, and the case was resolved through a confidential settlement.
In another Virginia case, Mummagraphics Inc., a Web site hosting and design firm, received multiple e-mails from Omega World Travel, a Virginia-based travel company. Mummagraphics asked the company to stop sending e-mails and upon receiving an additional e-mail after the request, according to a court decision, threatened to sue for $150,000 unless the travel company settled the matter for $6,250.
When Omega failed to pay, Mark Mumma of Mummagraphics posted photos of Daniel and Gloria Bohan of Omega on one of his “anti-spam” Web sites and, according to a United States Court of Appeals decision, accused the couple and their companies of being “‘spammers’ who had violated state and federal laws.” Omega and related parties sued Mummagraphics and Mumma on claims of defamation, trademark and copyright infringement, and unauthorized use of a likeness. Mummagraphics asserted various counterclaims, including relating to spamming and trespass. Only the defamation claim was allowed to proceed to trial and Mummagraphics and Mumma were hit with a $2.5-million jury verdict, which was reduced by the court to $110,000.
In Texas, according to the Media Law Resource Center: “Robert Sanchez, who lost a 2005 race for the Brownsville, Tex. City Commission, maintained his former campaign Web site (http://www.robertsanchez05.com) to advertise his restaurant , with a blog on local politics (formerly at http://www.robertsanchez05.com/phpBB2/index.php?c=2). The wife of Carlos Cisneros, who defeated Sanchez in the race, sued for defamation for statements on the site. The suit eventually settled for $150,000, after the plaintiff showed that Sanchez’s computer was used to write comments to the Web site. As part of the settlement, Sanchez admitted that he posted the comments under various pseudonyms; he also wrote a letter vindicating Elena Cisneros’ good name and apologizing to her children for the comments on the Web site.”
Return to Rule 2.