SLAPP? The GreenTech Automotive, Inc. v. Watchdog.org Libel Suit

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Mon May 6, 2013, 03:35 PM - Edit history (3)

Anybody but McAuliffe.

The GreenTech Automotive, Inc. v. Watchdog.org Libel Suit

On April 8, 2013, GreenTech Automotive, Inc., an electric car company founded by Terry McAuliffe, filed a libel suit in Federal court in Mississippi against the Alexandria-based non-profit Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity which does business under the name Watchdog.org. GreenTech alleges it was libeled by two on-line articles and seeks $85 Million in damages. Additionally, there is an allegation of intentional interference with business and prospective business relations. The suit also names as defendants the author of the article, Kenric Ward, and a Chinese language website that ran articles based largely on the Watchdog.org articles.
....

This article will examine the lawsuit and attempt to determine if GreenTech has a decent chance of winning this case or has filed suit in an attempt to suppress public criticism of GreenTech and Mr. McAuliffe during his campaign run and then drop the lawsuit when the election is over. Attempts to suppress public criticism by corporations via libel suits have been called SLAPP suits which stands for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation.
....

GreenTech filed this suit in Mississippi rather than Virginia even though Virginia is where most of the witnesses and records are, as I detail below. GreenTech’s purported reason for filing suit in Mississippi is that it is a Mississippi corporation with its principal place of business, i.e. its manufacturing plants, there. However, the fact remains that this venue will be exceedingly inconvenient and more expensive for the defendants. Bringing suit in Mississippi will also be a warning to other Virginia residents thinking about publishing articles critical of GreenTech and Mr. McAuliffe that they too could be hauled into court in Mississippi.

Indeed, GreenTech attorneys have threatened to add as a defendant in the Mississippi suit the Fauquier Free Citizen, a spare-time, not-for-profit blog. (Letter dated April 10, 2013 to Fauquier Free Citizen attached.) The letter complained that a Fauquier Free Citizen article “relies upon and links to articles originally published by the Virginia Bureau of Watchdog.org” and notes in bold that “{i}f you fail to remove the offending article and print the retraction described herein, you will be joined to the pending lawsuit.”
....

The threatening letter sent to the Fauquier Free Citizen certainly supports the theory that intimidation is one of the factors behind this lawsuit.

Is there any way we can dump this guy?