Football Coaches Victims of Libel
Friday, January 29, 2010
State champion football team Sacred Heart-Griffin Cyclones may be successful on the gridiron, but off the field they're fighting a different type of battle.
In Springfield, Illinois, the football coach at Sacred Heart-Griffin High School and his assistant coach are suing the former defensive coordinator for libel. In case you are not fully aware of the media law slang, libel is something that can damage a persons reputation or misrepresent them in a false light.
The accused has made comments on Facebook about the head and assistant coaches, using labels such as "pedophile" and "thief," according to the State Journal-Register. These online insults, which the coaches claim have been going on for the past three years, have now led to a $200,000 libel lawsuit.
Sacred Heart-Griffin High School holds a simple, yet powerful mission statement: "Academic Excellence in a Community of Faith." I can only hope that this regrettable lawsuit gets resolved before the good name of the school and the community are damaged any further.
1 comments:
It definitely seems as though the two coaches have a case. These claims sound pretty outrageous and unless the defense can prove that he had reasons to believe this the coaches should win. This is a clear example of how the defense used malicious and untrue language to damage reputations. It is also a clear example of the dangers of facebook when people become to emotional or immature to handle situations responsibly.
Post a Comment