LIBEL AND SLANDER

 

Jurisdiction: Barnstable Superior Court, Barnstable, MA

     This matter involved defamation (libel and slander) claims against our client, the Pastor of a Baptist Church.  There were allegations by three plaintiffs that the pastor made sexual advances and that after the plaintiff had divulged these advances to a number of people within the congregation, the pastor denied it.  The pastor allegedly scorned her and suggested to the congregation that she and the other two plaintiffs were mentally unstable.  It was alleged that he did this both in writing and verbally.  This resulted in hours of discussion and consultation within the congregation.  It also resulted in a “Boston Globe” investigation and article.
     Over a period of two years there were a number of claims that went back and forth between the plaintiffs, who claimed that the pastor defamed them by suggesting that they were fabricating and lying.  The pastor in turn, by way of his own personal counsel, brought a cross-claim for defamation. 
     In the case, we represented both the pastor and his wife as defendants in the defamation claim.  The case was tried for approximately three weeks, with in excess of 30 witnesses appearing before the court.  The local press followed the case closely.  At the conclusion of the case the jury found that statements made on both sides amounted to defamation, but that no damages should be awarded.