Johnson v. Faeder was decided yesterday by the Tennessee Court of Appeals (Judge Valerie Smith, joined by Chief Judge Michael Swiney and Judge Neal McBrayer). Defendant-Appellant Faeder is a lawyer who has a web site called One Shrewd Dude (presumably referring to himself), is a former college philosophy teacher and the author of the "bookella" Philosophy Without Reference: An Introduction to Contemporary Philosophy, and has "competed in six Magic: The Gathering Pro Tours" (see also here). Plaintiff-Appellee Johnson lives two houses away from Faeder. Here's the court's discussion of what happened:
[O]n July 14, 2021[,] … Appellee's husband (who is not a party to this litigation), saw Appellant in Appellee's backyard without permission and accompanied by his two young children. Appellant was shirtless at the time, and Mr. Johnson asked that Appellant put on a shirt. Appellant then left the Johnsons' yard with his children. There was no direct interaction between Appellant and Appellee during this encounter.
On July 29, 2021, Appellant delivered a letter to Appellee's mailbox. The delivery consisted of a men's shirt accompanied by a typed letter addressed to "Shirtman," seemingly in reference to Mr. Johnson. In the letter, Appellant proposed a solution for any future incidents: if Appellant's children wandered onto the Johnsons' property while Appellant was outside without a shirt, the Johnsons could bring him the enclosed shirt, which he would then wear and later return to their mailbox for repeated use. Appellant signed the letter "Your Eternally Neighborly Neighbor."
Relations between the parties further deteriorated following this incident. The record indicates that on numerous occasions over the next fifteen months, Appellant was seen walking or standing in front of Appellee's home wearing only brightly colored underwear. This behavior occurred repeatedly, including occasions when Appellee was hosting a children's birthday party and an Easter gathering at her home.
