Judge Denies Motion To Dismiss Defamation Lawsuit

Former Mayor Ray Murphy and former Town Council member Bill Veach now have 10 days to appeal Judge Keith Kyle’s ruling. On Monday Kyle ruled that the defamation suit against Murphy and Veach filed by Karen Woodson and John King can move forward. 

Woodson and King filed the lawsuit over the recall election last year. Kyle warned both sides that if the case did go to trial both sides would wind up paying tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees. A nearly 3-hour hearing to argue the motion to dismiss was held earlier this month.

Woodson and King allege Murphy and Veach, as co-chairs of the recall committee, defamed them when they claimed they violated Florida’s Sunshine Law, accepted gifts from developers who had business before the council, and instructed town staff to fire employees. While proof was not needed for those allegations to appear on a recall ballot, Woodson and King chose the defamation lawsuit route to fight what they are saying were lies about them. Because, they say, the allegations are lies, Veach and Murphy damaged their reputations in the community.

The bar is high to prove defamation, especially when it involves elected/public officials. The Fort Myers Beach community knows the recall was over development, specifically Seagate. Woodson and King’s yes vote on Seagate fueled the anger in the community but elected officials cannot be recalled over a vote taken while in office. What nobody knows is if Veach and Murphy, or any member of the recall committee, has proof of those allegations. They did not need proof to start a recall. 

The defense Murphy and Veach argued was that by allowing this lawsuit to go forward, the court would be stomping all over their 1st Amendment rights of free speech. It would cause a “chilling effect” in the arena of free speech, specifically political speech. They say by siding with Woodson and King, people will be afraid to speak up in the future. Veach and Murphy’s attorney also stated that his clients have been harassed over the last several months from this lawsuit.

The judge disagreed. In his ruling, it was a win across the board for King and Woodson: “King and Woodson each sufficiently alleged that Mr. Veach and Mr. Murphy, respectively, published false statements to members of their community. Second, plaintiffs sufficiently alleged that the statements were false. Third, plaintiffs satisfied the actual malice standard outlined in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, that is, that the defamatory statements were made “with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.” And, plaintiffs sufficiently alleged actual damages and that the statements were defamatory.” 

Kyle also ruled that Veach and Murphy failed to show that what they included in the petition was protected free speech. “Nowhere in either of the Defendants’ affidavits do they claim that the allegations are true, that there is a basis for the allegations, that they did not make the allegations, that they did not know they were false, that they did not act with reckless disregard in making the statements, or otherwise. They simply state that the allegations were made pursuant to the recall process.”

Read Judge Kyle’s ruling on the motion to dismiss HERE.