From Murphy v. Rosen, decided yesterday (generally correctly, I think) by Judge Matthew Dallas Gorton (Conn. Superior Ct.):
This is a defamation action in which the plaintiff, Sean Murphy, claims that the defendant, Beth Rosen, defamed him by posting comments on the Town of Southbury Facebook page describing him as a "white supremacist." …
On June 3, 2020, Southbury First Selectman Jeff Manville, Middlebury First Selectman Ed St. John, and School Superintendent Joshua Smith posted the following Joint Statement on the Town of Southbury Facebook page in response to the killing of George Floyd: [Details omitted. -EV] [A long online debate ensued. -EV]
The defendant later posted: "I am so deeply disappointed and enraged by this statement. 'All means all' is a slap in the face to every oppressed and marginalized person in our community. Shame on you for not standing up for those who most need support right now." The defendant also posted: "I've been working for almost seven years within the district to bring about change with the way people who are not white/Christian/ heterosexual/gender-normative are treated and this was like throwing the whole movement in reverse and dropping a brick on the accelerator."
The plaintiff responded to the defendant's posts by saying: "[W]hat a racist and bigoted comment. You are lumping people by race and religion. Gender non-normative is a comment that needs clarification. It means that people like you think it is acceptable to have a five-year-old boy dress as a girl. Normal and sane people call that child abuse." The plaintiff also posted: "Do you think some people should be excluded? She sure does. White Christian males, conservatives, come to mind." (Emphasis added.)
The defendant then posted: "[I]ncluding others does not mean that white, christian, conservative males are excluded. Your fear is that by including the others you will lose your privilege as a white Christian conservative male. That's what White Supremacy is all about. In reality, there can be room for all of us to be equal, but since we live in a patriarchal, misogynist society it's better for you not to have everyone included for fear that equality for all will take away your power. {The plaintiff responded to this post by stating: "Again your post is racist. You are the poster child for the uninformed, brainwashed, self-loathing Caucasian in town."}
