Posted on Wed, Oct. 11, 2006email thisprint this
Woman wins $11.3 million in Internet defamation case
By Hemmy So
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
(MCT)
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A Broward County, Fla., jury has awarded a woman $11.3 million in an Internet defamation lawsuit that legal experts say could spur more courtroom battles over what's said online.
Sue Scheff filed the lawsuit against Carey Bock in December 2003, after the Louisiana woman called her a "crook," "con artist" and "fraud" on an Internet message board for parents interested in alternative schools for troubled teens.
One message landed on the Broward County PTA website, calling Scheff's referral company for such parents "an old, old scam."
Legal experts say the Sept. 19 jury award may encourage more Internet-related lawsuits, particularly as message boards, blogs and social networking sites proliferate. Of the $11.3 million, almost half was awarded as punitive damages.
"I think when people read about litigation and big awards, there is sometimes an inspiring effect and others seek to imitate that success," said Sandra S. Baron, executive director of Media Law Resource Center in New York City.
But legal analysts warned that prospective plaintiffs shouldn't expect similar large awards, because of the circumstances surrounding Scheff's trial. Bock never showed up, meaning no defense was presented to the jury.
"Having a freakish (award) number where the defendant is not really represented well or at all in front of the jury happens all the time," said Robert Rivas, a media lawyer of the Boca Raton, Fla., law firm Sachs, Sax & Klein.
Scheff's attorney David Pollack, however, said he believes the jury award sends the message that those committing defamation or libel over the Internet cannot escape responsibility for their actions.
"What this verdict says is you can't go and destroy someone's reputation and post defamatory statements about them over the Internet. It's something that hundreds and thousands of people can see and you can't get away with it. That's the bottom line," he said.
Many victims of Internet chatter have already stepped into the courtroom on defamation or libel claims. More than 50 lawsuits have been filed across the country against bloggers alone, according to the Media Law Resource Center. Seven of those cases were filed in Florida, and most are still pending.
Pollack said that since the verdict, he has already received phone calls from potential clients.
"The real problem with these cases, for the people who are the victims of this defamation, (is) you can basically with the click of a mouse, destroy somebody's reputation, their business, their livelihood, their family with absolutely no justification," he said.
In her postings, Bock accused Scheff and her company, Parents Universal Resource Experts, of placing children in "risky" and "possibly abusive" programs. Scheff's firm provides parents a list of alternative schools and programs dedicated to troubled teens.
Bock had used Scheff's services, however, to help remove her two sons from Dundee Ranch Academy, an alternative school in Costa Rica. The relationship between the two women soured, court papers show, because Bock believed Scheff was hindering her ability to land a documentary movie deal about the school.
Bock could not be reached for comment. Pollack is investigating whether his client can actually collect the award from Bock, though he is doubtful she has $11.3 million. Scheff said if she does receive the money she would continue her work and probably share her wealth with friends who need it - after she pays her lawyer.
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