Alaska Corp. Drops Libel Suit Against Nonprofit Investigative Reporting Group

Image via WikipediaSuuluutaaq, Inc. and its CEO Samuel Boyle have abandoned their defamation action against the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting's CaliforniaWatch.org, according to a CaliforniaWatch article.

The case, Suuluutaaq, Inc. & Samuel Boyle v. Lance Williams, Center for Investigative Reporting & San Francisco Chronicle (Case No. 3:10-cv-00048), filed March 10, 2010, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, claimed an article written by California Watch senior reporter Lance Williams and published in the San Francisco Chronicle January 30, 2010, contained 11 offensive statements that defamed the company and its chief executive.

Suuluutaaq, an Alaskan corporation, received a $54 million federal stimulus contract to relocate the Napa Valley Wine Train tracks. The company had sought $24 million in damages, and Boyle, $8 million in damages from the defendants. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy M. Burgess last December dismissed much of the plaintiffs' claims as legally insuficient, according to California Watch.