Some excerpts from today's long opinion by Judge Joseph Dawson, III (D.S.C.) in Lemoine v. Horry Georgetown Tech. Coll.:
On September 5, 2024, while off campus, Lemoine [a cosmetology student at HGTC] sent a message in a Snapchat group that included some HGTC students. The message concerned an off-campus interaction involving Lemoine's boyfriend's roommate, who was not an HGTC student or employee. Lemoine wrote: "But naw I was trying to be nice but f[**]k that some random ugly ass in bread looking f[**]k dude called me a bitch he needa get blasted." [Expurgation in the court decision. -EV] …
[In a meeting with school officials on September 11, 2024,] Lemoine denied that "blasted" referred to physical harm and explained that she meant the roommate should be called out or held accountable for his behavior. Lemoine also stated that neither she nor her parents owned guns.
Defendants contend that Lemoine's statements suggested a broader disassociation from firearms. Plaintiff disputes that characterization and contends she did not state that she had never fired a gun, had no experience with guns, or had no association with anyone who possessed firearms.
