By The Law Offices of John Day, P.C. on Apr 01, 2025 06:18 am
Where the defendant posted false information about a previous plea agreement involving the plaintiff on Facebook, a $75,000 verdict for the plaintiff was affirmed. In Austin v. Plese, No. E2024-00586-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Mar. 11, 2025), the plaintiff and the defendant were neighbors. During a disagreement, the defendant posted on Facebook about the plaintiff, including a statement that the plaintiff had been arrested in Texas for deadly conduct with a gun, and that the plaintiff had pleaded guilty to those charges. In reality, the plaintiff had plead guilty many years ago to a Texas statute entitled deadly conduct to reach a better deal in a DUI case. The plaintiff filed this suit for defamation and false light invasion of privacy. The trial court found the statement about deadly conduct with a gun actionable, and it entered a verdict for the plaintiff in the amount of $95,100. On appeal, the $20,000 in reputational damages was vacated, but the judgment for the plaintiff was otherwise affirmed.
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