Re: 4/25/02 - [AZNT/ANTD] Jay Marvin v. Janice Shell et al.
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION
JAY MARVIN,
Plaintiff,
Vs.
JANICE SHELL, aka JANICE456,
JOHN DOE I, aka SCION, and
JOHN DOE II, aka SALEMSHEXNY
Defendants
02-CV-2963
JUDGE MANNING
MAGISTRATE JUDGE SCHENKER
Docketed
Apr 25 2002
PLAINTIFF'S ORIGINAL COMPLAINT AND JURY DEMAND
Now comes Jay Marvin complaining of Defendants Janice Shell, aka Janice456, John Doe I, aka Scion, and John Doe II, aka Salemshexny, and respectfully states as follows:
Parties
1. Plaintiff is a citizen of the State of Illinois.
2. Defendant Janice Shell, aka Janice456, is [personal information removed]
3. Plaintiff upon information and belief alleges that Defendant John Doe I, aka Scion, and John Doe II, aka Salemshexny, are neither citizens of the State of Illinois nor of the State of Pennsylvania.
Jurisdiction and Venue
4. This court has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C §1332 (a)(1) based upon the complete diversity of citizenship of the parties and the amount in controversy exceeds the jurisdictional minimum of $75,000.
5. Venue is proper in this District pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391 (b) because this case arises out of actions that occurred within this Judicial District.
Factual Background
6. Plaintiff has over the past year participated in a chat room on the Internet hosted by Lycos, Inc. called Raging Bull. The stated purpose of the Raging Bull chat room is "to engage in enlightening, useful conversations about investments." See Exhibit A attached to this complaint.
7. A part of Raging Bull is comprised of message boards or "threads" that are designed to discuss a particular company's stock. These messages, as soon as they are posted on the message board, are available for downloading worldwide and in the State of Illinois. One of the Raging Bull message boards is for Amazon Natural Treasures (AZNT), a company whose stock was previously traded on the over-the-counter market.
8. Persons posting on the Raging Bull message board do so using "screen names." The screen names are not the actual names of the persons but merely are "handles" selected by the person himself or herself. The actual name of the person or the e-mail address of registered users may be known by Lycos.
9. Before a person can post on the message board, the person must agree to the Lycos terms of service (TOS). The terms of service for Raging Bull includes the proviso "[e]njoy the active debates and discussions, but remember that threatening or harassing another member, using profane language or otherwise abusing your membership in the community is against our TOS and can result in suspension or cancellation of your membership." See Exhibit A attached to this complaint.
10. For a period of time, the stock of AZNT was touted by various unknown persons on the Raging Bull message board and the price rose. Defendant Shell posted unfavorable comments on the stock and the price of the stock fell sharply. Eventually the stock was delisted and is no longer traded.
11. As a result of the increase, then collapse of the price of AZNT stock, some investors in AZNT lost large sums of money. Several investors including Gary Dobry investigated why the stock rose and then fell. He reported his findings on the Raging Bull message board and other locations.
12. As a result of Dobry's postings, he was sued for libel by Richard Marchese.
13. Plaintiff Marvin is a friend of Dobry. Using his own funds, plaintiff has given limited financial support to Dobry for his defense of the libel claim by Marchese. Plaintiff also has posted messages on the Raging Bull site using various screen names to defend Dobry and himself and to respond to the voluminous allegations made against plaintiff and Dobry on the Raging Bull site by defendants Janice Shell, John Doe I and John Doe II.
14. The investigation by Dobry and resulting lawsuit filed by Marchese were reported in the Chicago Tribune in an article published on March 4, 2002 that is attached as Exhibit B to this complaint.
15. The posting by the various defendants on the AZNT thread on Raging Bull in the past year have nothing to do with engaging in enlightening conversations about investments. Instead. the thread has turned into a site where Plaintiff is attacked almost daily by various posters to the site. They identify Plaintiff and his employer even though Plaintiffs postings are by screen name. They have falsely stated that Plaintiff has misappropriated the corporate assets of his employer WLS-AM, has stalked women in the United States and in Italy, has assisted in hiding evidence in violation of court orders and has given false reports to law enforcement agencies. They further have described Plaintiff as mentally unstable and a physical threat to third parties.
16. The postings by defendants contain false statements concerning plaintiff. Defendants do not merely post the false statements about the plaintiff once but rather repeatedly post such statements. Defendants are acting in total disregard to the truthfulness of the statements. Defendants have engaged in a pattern of action to intentionally defame plaintiff, invade his privacy and interfere with his relationship with his employer. Most recently, defendants have begun to include comments about plaintiff's wife in their postings.
17. Moreover, at least two of the defendants have gone beyond the postings on Raging Bull. They have sent numerous e-mails containing false statements to Jones in an attempt to discredit him and to have him fired. The defendants have even bragged about their actions on the Raging Bull site and posted portions of the e-mails.
18. The postings by Defendant Shell include, among others, the following false statements:
a. ". . .Wonder why Zemira Jones [President and General Manager of WLS-AM Chicago] won't answer it. I mean, if he KNOWS that Marvin didn't use any WLS money to fund Dobry's witch hunt, whey doesn't he just say so? Seems pretty simple to me." Posted 29 March 2002. See Exhibit C attached to this complaint.
b. "As I told you, Jay, I haven't heard back from WLS. I can understand why: I asked them pointblank if you'd used their money to fund Dobry's witch hunt. You think they'd lay themselves open to a million dollar lawsuit by commenting on that? I do think that if they knew you didn't use their money, they'd simply have written back saying: 'he did it all on his own, used his own money, so it's no concern of ours.’ But that's not how it was, was it, Jay?" Posted 4 July 2001. See Exhibit D attached to this complaint.
c. "Hey Porky [plaintiff]!! Did you use any WLS money to fund Puggles's stalking of me?" Posted 28 February 2002. See Exhibit E attached to this complaint
d. "Now let's consider something else: would it be unethical for a loudmouthed not-very-bright talk show host to use some of his station's money to stalk and harass two women in Italy?" Posted 10 April 2002. See Exhibit F attached to this complaint.
e. "And that, of course, returns us to the question of WLS and their responsibility, or lack thereof, for his behavior." Posted 17 April 2002. See Exhibit G attached to this complaint.
19. The postings by Defendant John Doe I, include, among others, the following false statements:
a. "It's time marvin was brought under control-- right now he's a danger to all around him. If his wife cannot control him, or doesn't understand what he has been doing over the last 18 months or so, then there is a strong possibility that he could do serious damage to someone. His family or his work associates will probably be the first to feel the effects of his 'manic tornado.’", Posted 28 March 2002. See Exhibit H attached to this complaint.
b. "It would be a good idea for you to clean your house. and 'come clean,’ marvin. How much money did you get from WLS, under any pretext, to stalk and harass two women in Milan?" Posted 26 March 2002. See Exhibit I attached to this complaint.
c. "I agree. Porky has gone round the bend. WLS needs to know. ..It's obvious that Marvin is nuts, and should be restrained. He's now making threats of violence and stalking. It's time to make sure his employers know what they have representing them." Posted 28 March 2002. See Exhibit J attached to this complaint.
d. "Yes. . .and he made many posts about flying to Milan, all threatening to you and Gloria. Marvin is going to have to explain his terrorizing of women -- especially since he admitted in the Chicago tribune article to spending $10,500 of 'his own money'
to help Dobry to harass and stalk you." Posted 28 March 2002. See Exhibit K attached to this complaint.
e. "Hey Marvin.. have you been subpoenaed yet? Has WLS been subpoenaed yet? Are you ready to volunteer your personal information and admit to your part in the Dobry lies and perjury?" Posted 2 February 2002. See Exhibit L attached to this complaint.
f. "Add Jay Marvin's name back to the list of people prepared to lie, harass, and stalk people for Dobry." Posted 2 February 2002. See Exhibit M attached to this complaint.
g. "Marvin. . .when you see Dobry again, tell him the legal problems he has now are going to pale into insignificance when his lies and perjury are the topic of discussion in court. Did you help him 'hide' those two hard drives? Are you going to help him to 'find' them? Are you going to deliver your computer hard drives for inspection if ordered to do so by a court order, or will you do a Dobry and 'lose' them? Do you believe WLS will refuse to cooperate with a court order for copies of all your 'personal' work on WLS computers, and all e-mail correspondence between you and Dobry? Try hard to answer those questions. Oh, and don't forget to admit you have been posting on behalf of Dobry and harassing and stalking people at his behest. Have you also violated the Court Protective Order in the Marches v Dobry lawsuit using information given to you by Dobry?" Posted 2 February 2002. See Exhibit N attached to this complaint.
h. "I have no doubt that Marvin has full knowledge of what Dobry did to hide evidence, in defiance of a court order.. I also believe he knows where the files are that were copied." Posted 18 January 2002. See Exhibit O attached to this complaint.
i. "Good idea -- it's time to report DOBRY and MARVIN for supplying false information to the feds." Posted 9 June 2001. See Exhibit P attached to this complaint.
j. "I wonder how Marvin will react when Dobry reveals at discovery that Marvin has been posting on RB? That should give WLS something to think about, especially when the police and FBI start checking out Marvin and Dobry for illegally obtaining SSN, and posting the information on RB on people's families." Posted 14 October 2001. See Exhibit Q attached to this complaint.
k. "marvin...let's talk about just how much money you got from WLS, under any pretext, to help your 'close friend Dobry investigate Shell's background. We know what you claimed in the Tribune article. What we don't know, yet, is just how much WLS money or other assets you used to 'help' Dobry, in your joint witchhunt and harassment of two women in Italy, or how much of WLS assets you used to obtain the services of PIs in Italy and the UK..." Posted 27 March 2002. See Exhibit R attached to this complaint.
l. "SO, marvin...what's stopping you from telling the truth about the money and other assets of WLS that you used to help Dobry harass and stalk two innocent women in Italty, and another one in California?" Posted 27 March 2002. See Exhibit S attached to this complaint.
m. "I intend to keep writing to Zemira Jones at WLS until he does something to stop marvin' s use of WLS assets to help Dobry harass and stalk people. Today's letter to WLS will be followed by another to the ABC Radio legal department. If neither of those courses of action produce results, then I shall write to the story idea people at CBS and NBC." Posted 17 April 2002. See Exhibit T attached to this complaint.
n. "SO..marvin -- had any more discussions with WLS-AM about your funding of Dobry's harassment campaign? Have you discussed how you harassed people on the AZNT thread using multiple aliases? Has Mr Jones asked for an accounting of everything you spent of their money in your support of Dobry's illegal procurement of SSNs and credit reports?" Posted 24 April 2002. See Exhibit U attached to this complaint.
20. The postings by John Doe II include, among others, the following:
a. "Questions for you, Marvin. Does your wife see to it that you are all times take your Meds? Yes or No? Does your wife reel you in when you start getting crazy? Yes or No? Does your wife see to it that your current meds are the right meds? Yes or No? Does your wife take you to a doctor on a regular basis? Yes or No? Does your wife know that you're on this AZNT thread harassing innocent people? Does your wife ever discuss with you your abnormal behavior? Your excessive time on the computer? Is your wife an involved wife? Is your wife a better wife than Russell Yates is a husband? If you do something really crazy, like Andrea Yates did, should your wife bear some of the responsibility? And finally; do you consider yourself mentally ill?" Posted 18 March 2002. See Exhibit V attached to this complaint.
21. On at least four occasions, Defendants Shell and Doe I have sent e-mails to Plaintiff's employer seeking to have Plaintiff fired from his position and have attached postings from the thread. A copy of those letters are attached as Exhibits W, X, Y and Z. Among other things, the letters falsely state:
a. "This man [plaintiff] knows exactly what he is doing and does not think it is wrong to harass and stalk innocent people." See Exhibit W attached to this complaint.
b. "It seems highly likely that he has used and is indeed currently using WLS-AM time and computers for his harassment and stalking, and it is also possible that he used WLS-AM money to support his actions on the pretext that it would result in a TV or radio feature." See Exhibit W attached to this complaint.
c. "I believe that WLS-AM contributed money and other assets through Marvin to Dobry's campaign of harassment. I further believe that WLS-AM were unwitting accomplices in the egregious actions taken by Dobry and marvin." See Exhibit Y attached to this complaint.
Defamation and Libel
22. Defendants have libeled plaintiff through their various postings on the Raging Bull web site and in letters to plaintiff's employer. Their statements are false and defamatory and libel per se. They impute that plaintiff has engaged in the commission of criminal offenses, impute an inability or want of integrity in the discharge of the duties of his employment and impute the lack of ability of plaintiff in his profession and business. They have continued to make these postings over a period of months
Invasion of Privacy: False Light
23. Plaintiff realleges paragraphs 1 though 21 above.
24. As a result of defendants' various postings on the Raging Bull web site and in letters to plaintiff's employer. plaintiff's right to privacy has been invaded by placing plaintiff in a false light. The false statements repeatedly made by defendants accusing plaintiff of stalking of women, having a mental condition that would lead him to violent acts, accusing him of misusing corporate funds for private use, accusing him of violating court orders and descriptions of plaintiff's violent nature are highly offensive to a reasonable person. By repeatedly placing the postings on the web site with a reckless disregard for whether the statements were true or false defendants have acted with malice.
25. As a result of defendants' actions, plaintiff has been injured in an amount in excess of the jurisdictional amount of this court.
Interference with Business Relationship
26. Plaintiff realleges paragraphs 1 through 22 above.
27. Plaintiff is a contract employee of WLS-AM.
28. Defendants by sending letters to WLS-AM have damaged the business relationship between plaintiff and his employer in an amount in excess of the jurisdictional amount of this court.
Demand for Jury
29. Plaintiff hereby requests trial by jury.
Prayer For Relief
30. Plaintiff requests that this court upon trial enter an order finding that:
a. Defendants have libeled and defamed the reputation of plaintiff,
b. Defendants have invaded the privacy of plaintiff,
c. Defendants have interfered with the business relationship of plaintiff and his employer,
d. Defendants are liable to plaintiff for actual and punitive damages, attorneys fees and the costs to pursue this cause of action,
And for such other and further relief that plaintiff shall be entitled to receive.
Respectfully submitted,
[signature]
RICHARD C. BALOUGH
656 West Randolph St.
Suite 500 West
Chicago, IL 60661
312.902.9970
Fax: 312.902.9981
Attorney for Plaintiff |
