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Missouri: Company Uses Lawsuit as Threat to Silence Opposition
December 21, 2004
PEN USA is disturbed by the trend of defamation suits against individuals who speak out against companies. The latest example is of Tom Diehl, who won a case against a proposed garbage holding pen in suburban St. Louis.
However, after the case against the proposal was won, Tom Diehl was slapped with a $5 million lawsuit filed by the trash company, Fred Weber, Inc.; one of the largest road builders in the state. The company can definitely afford the libel and slander suit against Tom Diehl. The suit is apparently due to Diehl and the opponents’ characterization of the firm as “trash terrorists,” which the company says suggests the company has killed Americans and is bent on killing more.
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This suit has been described as “a clash of First Amendment speech - even hyperbolic - versus the right of companies to protect their reputations.” The case alarms PEN USA’s First Amendment Action Committee, because of the large amount of damages sought against one individual, and the trash company’s threats to sue other individuals who oppose the company’s plan to build a trash transfer station in another suburban town.
“They’re suing me to take away my right to be a citizen,” said Diehl. “If you’re going to be sued anytime you speak out, what’s an ordinary citizen to do?”
Lawsuits like the one Diehl finds himself embroiled in are often called SLAPP suits, “Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation.” Most cases are eventually dismissed or dropped, but the financial liability toward the average person makes people think twice before they testify at hearings or otherwise get involved in public debates.
“It’s like all life has stopped. This has taken over our lives,” said Diehl’s wife, Barbi. “When you get served with a lawsuit for $5 million, it’s a grain of sand for them (Weber) but it’s our lifetime.”
“We’ve seen a run-up in these cases, often by fairly powerful businesses seeking to muffle or stifle public participation,” said Howard Learner, executive director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago, in an interview with the Chicago Tribune in relation to this case. “If you’re a big company it doesn’t cost a lot of money to file a lawsuit and it sends a message, and that is `Don’t get involved.’”
That seems to be case in Diehl’s town. “Everyone is scared of being the next one to be sued. This is utterly ridiculous,” says John Campisi, a St. Louis County councilman who also criticized the trash proposal. Campisi has also come under fire from the Weber company for his opposition, and Weber filed a motion to keep Campisi from future consideration on appeals because of his “aligning” himself with Diehl.
Dan Polsby, who teaches law at George Mason University, said the suits “have a bad odor. To be punishing people for engaging in what surely they recognize as privileged speech or privileged hyperbole is over the top. And they’ll probably sue me for saying that,” Polsby said.
Friends and supporters of Diehl have created a defense fund called the John Doe Society. People contribute money, mostly in cash because they fear that checks might be traced to them.
A Missouri Court of Appeals panel is scheduled to hear arguments soon on a motion to dismiss the suit against Diehl.
Stephen Rohde Vice President of Freedom to Write and lawyer specializing in First Amendment issues, said, “lawsuits purposely intended to intimidate people from exercising their constitutional rights under the First Amendment have an undue chilling effect . Many states have taken steps to protect people from such unwarranted suits. The California legislature did so after finding ‘that there has been a disturbing increase in lawsuits brought primarily to chill the valid exercise of the constitutional rights of freedom of speech and petition for the redress of grievances. The Legislature finds and declares that it is in the public interest to encourage continued participation in matters of public significance, and that this participation should not be chilled through abuse of the judicial process.’ “
Recommended Action:
Write the Missouri Court of Appeals, requesting the suit be dismissed on First Amendment grounds.
Beth Riggert
Missouri Supreme Court
Post Office Box 150
Jefferson City, MO 65102
(573) 751-4144 (Phone)
(573) 751-7514 (Fax)
Write the Fred Weber, Inc. trash company and urge they drop the charges against Diehl, since this SLAPP suit is obviously meant to silence opposition and is against the ideals of freedom of speech.
Fred Weber, Inc.
2320 Creve Coeur Mill Rd.
P.O. Box 2501
Maryland Heights, MO
63043-8501
(314) 344-0070 (phone)
(314) 344-0970 (fax)
info@fredweberinc.com (e-mail)
Comments:
I was surprised and glad to see your article on SLAPP suits. I’m Tom Diehl’s wife and this SLAPP suit has torn up our lives badly, and affected everyone in our Community who formerly participated.
But I’m unsettled about your suggestion to write the Appeals Court Justices. We’ve tried so hard not to make Judges mad--not like our opponent has done.
Written briefs were submitted to the Court of Appeals Eastern District of MO in October 2004. In December they asked for Oral Briefs. That completed, we are waiting for their decision.
Thanks for your story--I’ll let you know when the Appeals Court rules on the Writ.