Posted on 01/12/2006 8:51:09 AM PST by BJClinton
Mike Marlowe fully admits that he sometimes gave George Gillespie a hard time in that AOL chatroom.
But never in his wildest imagination did he expect to be sued in court for what he characterized as "razzing."
"We gave him crap," said Marlowe, a 33-year-old welder in Fayette, Ala. "I'm not going to deny it. I teased him and he teased me back. He gave it back better than he ever got it."
A generation ago, such petty personal beefs might have been settled with fists outside the corner bar, but now it's the Internet age — and Ohio resident George Gillespie instead filed a $25,000 lawsuit against two erstwhile cyber chums he met in the sprawling 900-room, mostly anonymous society that makes up AOL's chat universe.
Gillespie, 53, claims that Marlowe and Bob Charpentier, a 52-year-old Oregon resident, insulted him and harassed him in the AOL chatroom called "Romance — Older Men" to the point where it inflicted "severe emotional distress and physical injury that is of a nature no reasonable man could be expected to endure it."
The complaint, expected in court on Jan. 31 for a pretrial conference, also names AOL as a defendant for allowing the alleged harassment to take place.
Gillespie alleges that the duo intruded into his "private affairs." The complaint states that Marlowe actually drove from Alabama to Ohio to photograph the plaintiff's home, which he then posted on the Web. He also allegedly went to the courthouse in Medina to dig up personal dirt on Gillespie, which he then also disseminated over the Internet.
The case is not simply "someone conversing in a chatroom" but also involves "harassing someone in Ohio," which gives Ohio courts jurisdiction, according to Gillespie's lawyers.
"Had the defendants stayed in the chatrooms, there would be no jurisdiction here, case closed" Gillespie's attorney Theodore Lesiak stated in the complaint. "Defendant did not."
But Marlowe said he works 60 hours a week at an autobody shop and laughed at the notion that he would drive from Alabama to Ohio to take pictures of Gillespie's house.
"I have never been to Ohio and I have absolutely no desire to go to Ohio," Marlowe said. "There is nothing there — the Cincinnati Bengals are there, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame maybe, and that's about it."
Even if Marlowe did take a trip to Ohio, posting a picture of someone's house on the Internet does not violate privacy laws, according to Chris Hoofnagle, attorney with the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
"Those norms require the aggressor to engage in behavior that is highly offensive to a reasonable person," he said. "Taking a picture of somebody's house and putting it up on the Web is not that."
Hoofnagle said Gillespie's emotional distress claim will also be tough to prove.
"We live in a rough society, as compared to Europe, where offending someone or directly cursing or attacking their dignity can give you a cause of action," he said.
Power Struggle in 'Romance — Older Men'
Charpentier said he first encountered Gillespie more than five years ago and at first, the two chatters were friendly. But Charpentier says he quickly became disenchanted by what he saw as Gillespie's mean streak.
Things really turned ugly four years ago when Charpentier traveled to Kentucky to meet another chatroom regular, a woman who was also a friend of Gillespie's. The blind date did not go particularly well, and when Charpentier returned to he discovered that Gillespie had gone on the attack.
"He just came in slamming on me, saying all kinds of derogatory crap: that I was a fat, bald, broke old man who sits around in a rusted wheelchair," said Charpentier, who has a chronic back injury. "I don't even own a wheelchair."
Accused harasser Bob Charpentier
Charpentier, who has filed a response seeking to reserve the right to file a $125,000 countersuit against Gillespie, said Gillespie threatened to kill him and "made sick and disgusting remarks about the passing of my grandmother."
"He is an AOL computer thug, that is all he is," Charpentier said.
Marlowe characterized the dispute as a petty power struggle. He said Gillespie was the de facto leader of the "Romance — Older Men" chatroom, and didn't like it when he and Charpentier challenged his authority.
But Marlowe said he never took the chatroom antics personally — until he was served with a lawsuit.
"I don't know how four years of bantering back and forth led to this insane nonsense," he said. "It's just the Internet, for God's sake. It's nothing important."
Michael Gordon, an attorney for AOL, declined to comment, saying, "This is just the beginning stages of this thing."
Megan Gray, a Washington D.C.-based intellectual property attorney who specializes in cyber issues, called it "a loser of a case." She said the Communications Decency Act gives AOL immunity from chatroom misconduct.
"AOL cannot be held liable for the actions of people on the site," she said.
She also suggested the case against Marlowe and Charpentier was doomed.
"The Internet is such a vibrant, young medium, these types of cases are not taken seriously," she said.
Groooovey the counter suit has got end up being very profitable..
SIDEBAR: It takes serious conones to slither into a courtroom with name of Hoofnagle..
Hardly necessary. The MLS real estate listing organization has photos on file of almost every house in the US so that they are ready to list it.
Most county real property and property tax records are online.
Most everyones phone records are available online.
Since all this is public record, how can it be invasive to repost it?
So9
 "He just came in slamming on me, saying all kinds of derogatory crap: that I was a fat, bald, broke old man who sits around in a rusted wheelchair," said Charpentier, who has a chronic back injury. "I don't even own a wheelchair."
I guess he accedes to being fat, bald and broke. |
"It's just the Internet, for God's sake. It's nothing important."
The smartest comment from the article
It would be great if we could.
OMG- He's going to sue them for hurt feelings?
Geez, by this guy's standards, I ought to be sued for that time I impresonated a woman on that cancer survivors message board and developed a friendship with a man and set up a meeting with him. I told him to meet me at a restaurant (he traveled across the country to meet "me") and bring a stuffed animal so I'd recognize him and I waited outside and bashed him over the head with a half empty liquor bottle.
That was hilarious.
Owl_Eagle(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,
I refer to your latest discharge of plebeian verbiage; in which, you have proven, once again, that there is no such thing as unutterable nonsense. Your post is an orgy of stultifying cacophonous verbal depravity; an exercise in literary impotence, and an offense to all of good taste and decency.
It seems your fingers not only did your typing, but did your thinking too. Have you considered suing your brain for non-support? Why is it that the people with the smallest minds always have the biggest mouths? If you knew what you're talking about, you'd be dangerous. Oh well, as the late Douglas Adams said: "You live and learn. At any rate, you live."
What possessed you to think that you were capable of being entertaining or interesting to read? I bet you thought it was just coincidence that your parents had the same surnames before they married? Maybe you wouldn't read like such a pathetic loser if you weren't intellectually slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through a vat of chunky peanut butter; if your weren't so fat that all the restaurants in town have signs that say: "Maximum Occupancy: 80 Patrons OR You.", or if you didn't have a face that could scare a hungry wolf off a meat truck. No, come to think of it, you would.
Anyway, I'm not really good with fools, but a friend who is good with fools wrote something down for me. Oh, yeah, "Shut your cake-hole, stupid!"
Heck, I'm glad he didn't post on FR.
ROFL!
If he did that he would miss out on the chance at the courtroom lottery. Also, aren't we all entitled to protection from having our feelings hurt? I'm sure that there is something in the Constitution about that or maybe I've just heard that some judge thinks so.
So this means DU trolls will file a class action suit against the Viking Kitties?
"Can we zot in absentia?"
Maybe a "Friend of the Court" petition to zot?
You better keep your attorney on speed dial!
Lawsuits by Steve Bozell
"I am not afraid to use our court system! I will not be publicly embarrassed nor humiliated by anyone!" proclaims Steve Bozell.
Steve Bozell of Corona CA has been the most litigious of Phil's guests. Below are some of his more famous lawsuits. Email additional lawsuits for inclusion. For great litigation, call Attorneys Bill and Delores Blasingame, the attorneys to Steve Bozell! (and the richest lawyers in Riverside!)
Steve Bozell has been taken to task by G. Gordon Liddy (of Watergate fame)on his nationally syndicated radio show for being one of the most litigous characters in America.
Lawsuits etc.
His first lawsuit was against the County of Riverside for false advertising since their Chamber of Commerce brochures did not inform him about their hot weather so he wanted to get reimbursed for his $800 a month air conditioning bill.
A lawsuit against the Parks and Recreation Department of the city of Riverside for putting a blue dye in their public pool that activated when one urinated in the pool. Steve was very embarrassed when he was caught urinating in the pool. As he left the pool after urinating, the blue evidence was everywhere. His whole family laughed at him.
That same pool is being sued by Bozell because they had dive sticks in the pool and he was doing cannon ball dives into the pool. He landed on a dive stick and it went into his ass. he stepped out of the pool to the laughter of all the people there as the dive stick flopped around in the crack of his ass. Aired 6-24-99
NASA is another source of Bozell's litigation after it cancelled his trip on the space shuttle as an engineer. He had purchased a fancy helmet and wanted reimbursement. Aired 11-4-98
The company who built Steve's jacuzzi is also being sued because his wife April learned that she could use the jets to get sexual pleasure. This incensed Steve as he felt his marriage was in danger since April had found someone or something better than him!!
Steve was a vegetarian and his wife and his best friend served him a meat meal as a joke. But Steve was eating jew jims because he thought that certain parts of a pig were kosher and therefore not meat!!! Aired 10-15-98
Steve Bosell (with a deeper Southern accent here) is filing suit against a hospital after they refuse him treatment and he's forced to amputate both of his arms and part of his own leg... with the plastic knife and spoon from his dinner plate.Submitted by Bill of Shuck and Jive
Steve is also suing a Civil War reenactment group because he did not know that the Confederates lost and that he would be killed in the reenactment. This was a cause of embarrassment to him in front of his family watching. Aired 7-6-98
He is suing AAMCO because he got scared during one of their radio commercials with the BEEP BEEP. He lost control of his car and ran in to a bus killing all the kids on the bus. Aired 9-14-98
Steve sued his neighbor one time for brandishing a shotgun at him. The neighbor was mad because he walked outside to find Steve hovering over and behind the neighbor's dog naked. Steve was mad that the dog was barking at him all the time and was using a technique to show the dog who was dominant. Steve thought the dog was "trying to ridicule him."
Steve sued another neighbor that had a mynah bird. Every day as Steve came home from work, the mynah bird would make disparaging remarks to Steve. He was further harassed later when he started receiving threatening phone calls. He discovered after Star 69ing the calls that it was the mynah bird making the calls.
A lawsuit against Britany Spears, Wango Tango and Rick Dees for alienation of marital affection. He was so turned on by young 16 year old Britany Spears that he was no longer turned on by his wife. He just fantasized about her big breasts and areolas. In fact, Steve could not even say breast, boobs, tits, hogans or any word about breasts without stuttering. Aired 6-14-99
Steve sued his neighbor for taking video of him soiling his pants when he was scared to death on the golf course by a wandering coyote. He was particularly concerned when he saw a FEDEX truck pull up to his neighbor's to pick up the video for America's Funniest Home Videos. Aired 5-18-99
A lawsuit against a lumber company for failing to warn of dangers with their lumber. He was on a construction site, saw a pretty Asian girl get out of a Corvette and got turned on. So he grabbed a piece of lumber, WD40 and Paul's Plumbers Putty
and had relations with the board. To further the experience he twirled the board (simulating having sex with the Asian girl on a twirling love chair) and got splinters all over his privates. He felt the company should have had a warning on the lumber about this potential problem. And Paul's Plumbing Putty should warn its users that it is not a good lubricant for knothole sex!Aired 5-4-00
Steve once sued a friend of his, who is an airline captain, for putting a dildo wrapped in aluminum foil in his suitcase. Thus, when Steve went through security at LAX, the foil set off the detector and subsequently they pulled a dildo out of his suitcase. Of course everyone started laughing at him, which caused him to yell throughout the airport that the dildo wasn't his, and that he does not put dildo's up his butt. Obviously this created even more attention for Steve, and soon the whole terminal was laughing at him. Thus, he sued his friend for "making him look like a fool." (where have we heard that before?)
Another lawsuit is pending against the phone company because Bozell feels the Star 69 feature is an invasion of his privacy since his ex-wife can use it to find out that his phone calls are coming from him.
A while back Steve got sick and went to the bathroom to take his temperature anally. He did not want to wake his family so he left the lights off and did not realize that he was inserting a BIC pen up his ass. Aired 5-26-98
He is suing the Club company because his son started driving the car without realizing that the club must be removed before starting the car and crashed. Steve, as always feels there should be a warning label! Aired 5-26-99
He is suing the Corona library because he wanted to have a forum to explain that he was not gay which they all assumed that he was when he returned his wife's copy of The Bridges of Madison County. The librarian directed him to the gay section of the library and that made him cry. Aired 2-28-00
Steve Bozell sued a boating buddy last summer for making fun of him and encouraging laughter from Steve's wife and son. It seems it had taken boating safety a little too seriously. When his buddy got up to "dangerous speeds", Bozell got so scared he dove into the water screaming "We're going down!" This happened several times that afternoon. Later Phil determined the boat was only going five miles per hour!
Shortly after Steve's mother's funeral, he sued the makers of the Furby toy. His daughter's Furby began to spout obscenities in the limo in which Bozell and his family were returning from the funeral. Steve figured that the Furby had chosen Steve's most vulnerable moment to taunt him. Amid the family's laughter, Steve wrestled with the Furby and tried to get it to shut up. He finally threw it out the car window.
A Chinese restaurant is being sued for failing to warn Steve that their fortune cookies have a paper fortune in each cookie. Steve nearly choked to death not knowing there was paper inside the fortune cookie.
Last winter Steve initiated a lawsuit against the California Highway Patrol. It took him three hours to go from Fontana to Northridge to a job site. Then on the way home he was pulled over for weaving. CHPs originally thought he was drunk. When he got out of the car, his pants were down exposing his manhood. Steve was both embarrassed and upset when the officer made comments to him like "what caliber is that thing?" As Phil questioned Steve further it seems that Steve "handles himself" when under stress. His stress was caused by his upset and concern about the recent unexpected departure of John and Ken from KFI drivetime. He had no idea what had happened and did not know if he would hear them again. He was very stressed and did this to relieve that stress. And of course the CHPs found the fact that he was doing this while Karel and Andrew (gay talk show hosts on LA's KFI radio station) were blaring on his radio very funny. Steve immediately called his lawyer. Aired 3-25-99
He is suing Erin Brockovitch for having a spontaneous emission when looking at a poster of her. He fainted right after seeing the poster and was made fun of by the paramedics who treated him for saying that he would need a change of pants. Aired 2000
During a chili cook-off, Steve burned his rear end so bad he needed a donut to sit for a week after. He did not know chili could get that hot!! He wanted to sue the cook for public embarrassment, rectal bleeding and burning. Aired 1-12-00
Bozell wanted to sue Universal Studios in Los Angeles after he visited there on their special Halloween Fright Night. It seems that Steve soiled himself after a devil popped out and frightened him to death. All of his kids and their friends then made fun of him for the rest of the night. Steve seems to frighten easily. Aired 10-27-98
Steve is suing his neighbor, Roy Hutchins, for making fun of him for buying all these cases of KY Jelly which he had bought in anticipation of being raped by Road Warriors after the chaos of Y2K.
... and I'll never forgive you for it. I still have a small dent in my skull from the bottle. What was that, anyway, a half gallon of Jack-Black?
I have been flamed before also. Most of the time I deserve it...LOL.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.