Man, I've never seen message board users sued before...

Sparlimb

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Tell me if this is more common than I know. This is supposedly about comments made about Fleck and an affair he had with Zeigler. Weird stuff, but hadn't seen this posted before...

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2015/02/defamation_lawsuit_online_comm.html

By Rex Hall Jr. | [email protected]
on February 05, 2015 at 2:50 PM, updated June 17, 2015 at 1:53 PM

KALAMAZOO, MI -- A major supporter of Western Michigan University is suing three online commenters, including a Hall of Fame high school football coach, claiming they damaged her reputation.

Bonnie A. Zeigler alleges in a lawsuit filed in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court that the commenters defamed her on the internet during conversations about WMU football coach P.J. Fleck.

Zeigler in recent years has been listed as a member of the Mike Gary Society, donors who contribute $10,000 or more to support WMU athletics. She is married to Aaron Zeigler, the president of Kalamazoo-based Zeigler Auto Group.

Zeigler's claim was made in an amended complaint filed Jan. 12 in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court.

The three men named in the lawsuit are Dan Burgardt of Schoolcraft, Randolph T. Foster, a WMU alumnus who lives in Colorado, and Bruce L. Bendix, a member of the Michigan High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame.

Bendix is a Kalamazoo native who played football at Western Michigan University in the 1970s before going on to coach at Kalamazoo College and Comstock and Otsego high schools, among other places. In 1999, he moved to the east side of the state where he continued coaching at various high schools and he recently resigned as Hemlock High School's head coach, MLive reported on Jan. 1.

Zeigler is seeking damages in excess of $25,000 against each defendant, as well as attorneys' fees and costs, for alleged defamation and false light, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims that Bendix, Burgardt and Foster each posted "false and defamatory statements" about Zeigler on the sports website CSNbbs.com while using the online pseudonyms "MajorHoople," "Chipdip2" and "DesertBronco," respectively.

"Defendants' publication of these false and defamatory statements was negligent and/or with reckless disregard of whether or not they were false," the lawsuit says.

The identifications of Bendix, Burgardt and Foster came after "diligent inquiry" that included seeking the defendants' addresses, email addresses, IP addresses and other information from the website, according to the lawsuit.

Zeigler's lawyer, Douglas Callander, declined to comment for this report. Fleck also declined to comment.

According to the lawsuit, the false rumor was first posted Sept. 13 by a commenter using the pseudonym "BusterNemo91" on CSNbbs.com on a thread called "Fire Fleck."

That original post was removed but then reposted just 26 minutes later by a user named "WheresWaldo42" and "numerous other individuals," sparking a discussion centered around the topic, the lawsuit says. The discussion continued for a month "and was referenced and republished in approximately 500 more posts."

"Defendants even stated that these allegations are not rumors, but true facts," according to the lawsuit. "As of December 23, 2014, the 'Fire Fleck' thread had been viewed 202,263 times. The 'Fire Fleck' thread on CSNbbs.com and its contents have also been shared and/or referenced on numerous other internet posting boards, including boards for Northern Illinois University and Michigan State University sports."

Burgardt, who formerly covered WMU football for the sports website Rivals.com, told the Kalamazoo Gazette that the comments he posted were meant to be satire mocking two other commenters who said they believed the online rumors.

"From my perspective, you had 11 people who were initially on that complaint and they basically had heard a rumor which apparently had been talked about in the community and they were talking about whether they believed it or not," Burgardt said. "Some of them believed it, some of them didn't. My position on it is I didn't believe it and I gave some snarky examples of why I believed it wasn't true."

The Kalamazoo Gazette is choosing not to repeat the alleged rumor in this story.

Foster told the Gazette he had no "malicious intent" behind what he posted on the message board.

"It's message board nonsense," Foster said.

Bendix could not be reached for comment.

The lawsuit, which is before Circuit Judge Pamela L. Lightvoet, was first filed Nov. 5 with Bonnie A. Zeigler, Aaron Zeigler and the Zeigler Auto Group listed as plaintiffs. The defendants listed were 11 John Does known only by their online pseudonyms. The amended complaint filed in January only names Bonnie A. Zeigler as plaintiff and Bendix, Burgardt and Foster as defendants.
 


I'm going to sue Spoofin for defamation if he keeps it up.
 

Absolutely. You can also be sued for defamation on Twitter, Facebook, etc.


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I thought this had been alluded to in here. Must have been the evil neighbor I was thinking of. It's good to see some accountability for some of the BS slung around as "fact". There have been a few other cases very recently as well
 

Interestingly enough, there are also 4-10 football players here who could potentially sue some members of this site for defamation...
 

I thought this had been alluded to in here. Must have been the evil neighbor I was thinking of. It's good to see some accountability for some of the BS slung around as "fact". There have been a few other cases very recently as well

Yeah, I brought this up during the PJ Fleck search.

This is a very particular type of posting. I haven't seen a thing posted on this forum that would be libelous.
 





I actually worked on a case where message board members were sued for something similar. In doing research I found that it happens way more than you would think.
 

Read the book 'What happens in Vegas stays on Facebook, Privacy is Dead'. I think many folks believe that using a 'forum name' gives them freedom to state whatever they want with no repercussions. They feel that they are hidden behind it. There ain't no place to hide anymore unless you use a flip phone and snail mail, I guess.
 

I will not be surprised to see more lawsuits for social media-related comments.

Fake news and false rumors can cause irreparable harm.
 



Wait! What? Things on a message board can be false even if the poster says it is fact? So little makes sense today.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


I actually worked on a case where message board members were sued for something similar. In doing research I found that it happens way more than you would think.

In general, what kind of message board was it?
 

I love all GH'ers. Don't sue me for alienation of affection.
 

There are probably some nervous posters here, lol. You would only need to worry if you made claims about someone that were damaging in some significant way, without any factual or legal basis. For example, if one were to claim (in writing) they knew of one or more individuals raping someone without any existing conviction or charges having being brought that could be grounds for a case.
 



OK - not a lawyer here - but to claim defamation, isn't it the case that you have to post information that you know to be false, with the intent to cause harm. It's one thing to speculate -you just can't knowingly post false statements. So, the key is being able to prove that the poster both A. posted false statements, and B. knew them to be false when he posted them.

If I'm wrong, hopefully Bob or one of the other (real) lawyers on here will set me straight. Just don't sue me. I'm counting on my tax refund to buy a new TV.
 

All those folks talk'n trash about 9 wins not being good enough better get their checkbooks out!
 



OK - not a lawyer here - but to claim defamation, isn't it the case that you have to post information that you know to be false, with the intent to cause harm. It's one thing to speculate -you just can't knowingly post false statements. So, the key is being able to prove that the poster both A. posted false statements, and B. knew them to be false when he posted them.

If I'm wrong, hopefully Bob or one of the other (real) lawyers on here will set me straight. Just don't sue me. I'm counting on my tax refund to buy a new TV.

You don't necessarily have to prove intent. It depends whether you are talking about a private person or a public figure. When you are talking about a public figure you can pretty much say anything as long as you can provide even the tiniest reason that you believe it is true. That's partly why Fleck isn't a plaintiff in this lawsuit. It would be much more difficult for him to win than the woman who I assume is not considered a public figure.
 


All those folks talk'n trash about 9 wins not being good enough better get their checkbooks out!

All those folks saying Fleck's not even capable of getting them above .500 better be standing right next to them!
 




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