Know of any [lawsuits] that went further.
The furthest along is Varian vs. Delfino & Day (who both post on SI). It's now at the level of the California Supreme Court. It's not exactly what you are looking for, but quite interesting nonetheless.
Mike Delfino was an employee of Varian, got fired, and, along with fellow employee and girlfriend Mary Day (who then quit her job), started posting messages on Varian's Yahoo board that were critical of the company. Varian immediately sued the two. In doing so, Delfino & Day contend they were accused of using aliases they did not and thus writing posts they did not, which, when combined with the lawsuit that blindsided them, pissed them off even more, causing them to raise both their posting rate and the vitriol level of each.
Delfino & Day eventually filed a motion to dismiss the case under California's anti-SLAPP statute. The court denied it so the duo appealed the decision to the CA Court of Appeals. Rather than wait for the higher court to rule on the appeal, the judge ordered the trial to proceed anyhow. Delfino and Day lost and were ordered to pay Varian $775,000. The Court of Appeals then declined to rule on the original appeal saying it was now a moot point since they had lost.
Delfino & Day contend the trial should have been stayed on appeal. The CA Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, did so in December, and is due to rule on it soon. Their argument is that by not staying trial, you force the defendants to go through a costly trial that the anti-SLAPP statute was designed to prevent. They have broad support from groups ranging from the ACLU to the CA Attorney General and I think they will prevail. That notwithstanding that the anti-Varian posts are some of the most vitriolic you'll ever read.
For more information on the case, see: Message 20837627 and
geocities.com
- Jeff |
