A California bachelor, who accused more than 50 women of ruining his reputation by sharing their bad experiences with him on a Facebook group, reportedly had the rug pulled from under him by a court on Monday, which ruled on freedom of expression.
“It feels really good to have all the charges dropped. It wasn't just my defamation charges, it was the 11 charges against me,” one of the women targeted in the lawsuit, Vanessa Valdez, said during a press conference reported by FOX 11 LA.
On Monday, Stuart Lucas Morey's efforts were reportedly ignored by a Los Angeles civil court judge, who ruled that the First Woman was within her rights when she shared her opinion about California in a Facebook group, after a bad online dating experience with him. .
Since no evidence of conspiracy was found, the judge was going to grant a motion against SLAPP proceedings, to prevent the bachelor from abusing the justice system by using it as a tool to silence women.
In his civil lawsuit, the man sought compensation of more than $2.6 million from more than fifty women whom he accused of conspiring against him in the “Are We Dating the Same Man” group? (“Are we dating the same man” in French?) in order to damage his reputation and destroy his love life.
The woman behind the post, Kelly Gibbons, posted a message in the group after weeks of online interaction with the Californian, until a rude phone call led to a severing of ties, according to the New York Post.
She justified this by saying: “I don’t want my friend to go out with someone like that,” before comments from strangers supported her suspicions, according to the American newspaper.
Other defendants named in the lawsuits hope this first decision will set a precedent for upcoming hearings to be held in the coming weeks, co-defendant Olivia Berger added Monday.
But despite Monday's decision, the man doesn't seem to want to budge, as he shared a press release on Channel X expressing his regret over the judge's decision.
“My lawsuit targets multiple defendants, particularly those who obsessively conspired to stalk, stalk, and harass me. These practices constitute unlawful invasions of privacy and have become widespread because they are not being adequately combated.”
“Amateur entrepreneur. Professional internet expert. Zombie maven. Incurable pop culture scholar.”
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