Constitution, Freedom, personal responsibility

Thedirt.com $11 Million Judgement for Libel and Slander Against Cincinnati Bengals Cheerleader Sarah Jones

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An interesting story came to light last week.  A website was ordered to pay $11 million for libel and slander in a default judgement.  Based on court filings, in December 2009, TheDirtY.com (or its users, reports are unclear) posted that Sarah Jones and Bengal’s kicker Shayne Graham were having an affair and that Jones might have contracted “two venereal diseases.”  The original complaint is here (pdf). Links to the original documents are here.

Jones was informed of the post by Graham and filed suit in December 2009 and a default judgement was entered in the case in August 2010.  The complaint alleges Defamation (Count 1), Libel Per Se (Count 2), False Light (Count 3), Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (Count 4),

The problem was that Kentucky attorney Eric Deters filed suit against Los Angeles-based Dirty World Entertainment Recordings which the complaint and judgment said operates TheDirt.com.  The website that posted the information was TheDirtY.com, owned by Scottsdale-based Dirty World LLC.  Notice the “Y” on the end of the website.  Apparently Jones’ attorney Eric Deters didn’t notice the difference. Neither did U.S. District Court Judge William O. Bertelsman and awarded $1 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages.

TheDirty.com’s owners did not respond to the suit because they weren’t served and consequently have no legal knowledge of the suit.  Interestingly, Politico states that “Kentucky attorney Eric Deters, who is representing Jones, said it was irrelevant that the incorrect corporation, website and physical address were listed on the complaint and judgment.”  Now, if that statement is true, it opens an entirely new avenue to sue people – don’t sue the people you want, sue someone else, get a default judgement and then say “it is irrelevant.”  Obviously, it is completely relevant that you serve the correct person so that they have notice of the suit and can respond.  Anything else is a travesty of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the concept of notice.

TheDirt.com is now asking whether they should counter-sue Sarah Jones for libel or start a fundraiser.

TheDirtY.com is now asking AP for an apology and retraction since AP reported that the judgement was against TheDirtY.com when simple reporting by AP would have shown that it was against TheDirt.com.  Likewise Cincinnati.com reported the same.  So far no retractions or apologies have come to light.

U.S. District Court Judge William O. Bertelsman and attorney Eric Deters should be embarrassed to have let a farce get so far.  TheDirty.com should be embarrassed to have posted that.