Florida Court Dismisses Libel Suit by Vape Store Owner Against New York Post
A federal court in Florida dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by the operator of seventeen vape stores. The plaintiff had alleged false statements in a New York Post article about his business and political views.
insurancejournal.comIn an earlier ruling on a motion to dismiss, the court determined the plaintiff is a public figure required to meet the actual malice standard. The determination rested on allegations in the plaintiff's own prior complaints, which described his work as a journalist in Gaza for the New York Times, Reuters, and CBS News, receipt of the John R.
Aubuchon International Freedom of the Press Award in 1993, and co-authorship of the book Beyond Intifada. The plaintiff later filed an amended complaint that removed those allegations and argued he was not a public figure. The court rejected the amendment, stating it was an attempt to circumvent the prior order and constituted bad-faith pleading.
Dismissal The court found the plaintiff had not plausibly alleged actual malice and treated the attempt to avoid the public-figure designation as a concession that such allegations could not be made. The complaint was dismissed with prejudice. The defendants are represented by attorneys from Holland & Knight LLP and Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.
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