'Gay' Label No Longer Slanderous, N.Y. Court Rules

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Overturning a nearly three-decade old legal precedent, a New York appellate court this week ruled that a statement labeling someone as gay cannot be defamatory per se.

In the seven-page decision by the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division Third Judicial Department in the case, Yonaty v. Mincolla (Case No. 512996), Judge Thomas E. Mercure wrote that as a matter of law, falsely stating that an individual is gay is not slanderous per se, and that past state court rulings are "inconsistent with current public policy and should no longer be followed."

Acknowledging, for example, the New York Legislature's passage in June 2011, of  the Marriage Equality Act [Domestic Relations Law Sec. 10-a, as amended by L2011, ch 95, Sec. 3] that granted same-sex couples the right to marry in New York, the appellate court overruled Matherson v. Marchello, 100 A.D.2d 233, 241-242 (2d Dept. 1984), which considered allegations of homosexuality defamatory per se in light of the then-existing "social opprobrium of homosexuality."

According to accounts by the Associated Press and the Media Law Prof Blog, in the present case, plaintiff Mark Yonaty alleged that defendant Jean Mincolla spread a rumor that Yonaty was gay intending that it harm Yonaty's relationship with his girlfriend, which he claimed it did. As reported by this blog [see "TUOL" post 6/24/11], Broome County Supreme Court Justice Phillip R. Rumsey  previously denied Mincolla's motion for summary judgment to dismiss the suit.

Linebacker Tackles NFL Commish in Defamation Suit

Linebacker Jonathan Vilma and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams (Photo credit: Wikipedia)New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma last week filed an 11-count defamation suit against NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana arising from the league's response to the Saints' "Bounty Rule" scandal.

In Vilma v. Goodell (Case No. 12-cv-1283), Vilma, an 8-year NFL veteran, alleges in a 16-page Complaint that his personal and professional reputation was sullied by a March 2, 2011, NFL Club Report that states: "[P]rior to a Saints playoff game in January 2010, defensive captain Jonathan Vilma offered $10,000 in cash to any player who knocked [opposing quarterback Brett] Favre out of the game." Vilma has been suspended by the league for the entire 2012-2013 season for his alleged involvement in the Saints' Bountygate scandal that purportedly occurred over the 2009 through 2011 seasons.

The plaintiff's Complaint, which includes multiple accounts alleging slander, libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress, faults the defendant and the NFL for allegedly not being forthcoming in producing corroborating evidence concerning the bounty scandal. The league fined the Saints $500,000, suspended Head Coach Sean Payton without pay for the upcoming NFL season, suspended General Manager Mickey Loomis for half the 2012-2013 season, indefinitely suspended ex-Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams from the NFL and suspended Asst. Coach Joe Vitt for the first half-dozen regular season games in 2012, among other disciplinary action. Vilma was one of four players suspended for their alleged involvement in the bounty program.

The scandal allegedly involved assigning cash rewards from a pool in which Saints players purportedly participated for various injuries inflicted on opponents, including "cart-offs" in which a player is carried off the field and "knockouts" in which an opposing player is forced from the game because of a hit inflicted by a Saints player. "TUOL" doubts the Vegas line would give odds that Vilma's suit ever goes to trial, but if it were to, the public no doubt would be shocked at the revelation that professional football is a contact sport.

Knox Appeals Slander Conviction

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeFive months after an Italian appellate court overturned her 2009 murder conviction in the brutal 2007 slaying of her English roommate Meredith Kercher, 24-year-old Amanda Knox is asking the appeals court in Perugia, Italy, to reverse a slander conviction.

According to online stories by Reuters and MSNBC, Knox, a former University of Washington student currently living in Seattle, was on the wrong end of an action for slander brought by Diya "Patrick" Lumumba, a bar owner whom she implicated in Kercher's death. He was released after two weeks' incarceration for lack of evidence.  Knox claims police, during their interrogation, coerced her into pointing the finger at Lumumba, according to press accounts.

No timetable has been set for when the Perugia court will take up the appeal.

Pol Gets Irish Up After Radio Station Defames Her as 'Alco'

Image by Irish Typepad via FlickrIndependent Irish talk radio program, "Newstalk," got socked with a defamation judgment of 450,000 euros ($647,721), Website stinkyjournalism.org reports, from accounts in The Phoenix and The Journal, after commentator Nell McCafferty said on The Tom Dunne Show last year that former politico Mary Harney was an "alco."

McCafferty was unaware her conversation was picked up on a live mic when she said Harney, a former Minister for Health and Children and Tanaiste, had allegedly received treatment for alcohol addiction. Harney purportedly sued for 1 million euros ($1,439,381). An on-air apology by the station and an attempt by station owner Denis O'Brien to apologize to the plaintiff did not derail Harney's lawsuit.