Friday, May 22, 2009

Libel Dispute Resolved by Mutual Accord: I Remove Lawsuit, Blogger Removes Word

I am pleased to report that blogger Stephanie Grasmick has agreed to remove the false and misleading word from the headline of her May 13, 2009 blogpost which caused me to file a libel suit against her on May 18, 2009. I, in response, have withdrawn my complaint against her.

The word in question, “fraud”, has a clear and distinct meaning, and it is my belief that by removing that word from her headline Ms. Grasmick is acknowledging her error.

I hasten to add that after our private dialogue on the matter, I am completely convinced that Ms. Grasmick included that word in the headline out of misunderstanding, and not out of any desire to misrepresent the facts.

I found Ms. Grasmick in our private dialogue to be gracious, intelligent, fair minded, and unfailingly polite.

I believe that had Ms. Grasmick and I taken the time to have a more detailed discussion of the matter subsequent to her private notification to me of her intent to publish the story, and the actual publication of the story, she would have written the headline in such a manner as to accurately reflect the facts.

Her public persona, in which many of her posts were filled with profanity and insults, coupled with the anonymous nature of her authorship at the time, led me not to trust that she would be fair in her reporting of the story. That, coupled with the relatively short period of time between the private notification and the actual publication created this public miscommunication, which has now been resolved to our mutual agreement.

I believe that her conduct in resolving this matter so quickly should demonstrate to all that Ms. Grasmick is a fair-minded and honest person.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear she removed the word.

But I'm not inclined to believe she is fair minded, and her public writing certainly reinforces any lingering notion that she is rude and impolite.

She did what was necessary to avoid the consequences of a false accusation of an illegal act on your part. You are now doing what is necessary for a gentleman and a good person to respond to her gesture, and it reflects well on you.

Then again, you've not been posting profanity-laced, vile and irrational statements and positions.

Good for you, Michael. But Stephanie is still an underhanded agent of skullduggery who participates in 'destroying people'. The fact that you were too hard a nut to crack doesn't remove her guilt in this area except in your particular case.

Big Dave in Dallas

Anonymous said...

Why are you being so magnanimous? She will only use it to her advantage the next time she vilifies you.

Allison M.