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- A Chicago man sued 27 women over disparaging comments they made about him in a Facebook group.
- The women said the man was "clingy," "psycho," or that he would ghost them.
- The lawsuit has a couple holes, but false statements online can get you in trouble, attorney says.
Recently, a Chicago man filed an ambitious lawsuit against 27 women and Meta for comments some of the women made about him on a private Facebook group titled "Are We Dating the Same Guy."
The women claim in their social media posts that they went on dates with the man, describing him as "clingy" and "psycho," and advising others to "steer clear." One woman claims that he ghosted her after they slept together.
A spokesperson for Meta and the attorneys who filed the defamation case did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Daliah Saper, a principal attorney at Saper Law and defamation expert, told Business Insider that legal cases like this are not uncommon. In 2022, a New York City woman received a cease-and-desist letter after she made a TikTok to warn other women about an unfaithful ex-boyfriend, CNN reported.
But there are glaring missing pieces in the case involving the 27 women, Saper said, including how the lawsuit does not specify which statements are defamatory.
"We clearly know he's upset about what they posted, but it's not clear why it's defamatory," she said.
Still, there's a lesson to be learned from the case: What you say online about a horrible date could wind up in a defamation lawsuit, regardless if you post it in a private Facebook group like "Are we Dating the Same Guy."
"It doesn't matter if the group is private," Saper said. "You just need to show a verbally false statement has been made about you and has been published to a third party."
This excludes opinions. Calling someone "very clingy" wouldn't be considered defamation but accusing someone of assault or drugging you would be examples of statements that could get someone in trouble if they can be proven to be false, Saper said.
There are four types of "per se defamation" or written defamation: accusing someone of a crime such as sexual assault; accusing someone of having an infectious disease; accusing someone of conduct that would impact their job; and accusing someone of unchastity e.g. calling someone a "whore," Saper said.
Allegations of defamatory statements also need to outline what damages were incurred with each claim which Saper said was missing from the lawsuit.
Saper's advice: "Limit the statements to verifiably true things. Anything that you can prove. Or anything that squarely can be construed as an opinion. 'He's a jerk' is much different from saying 'He roofied me.'"
So if you recently went on a bad date and feel compelled to shout about it into the digital atmosphere, you can — just be mindful of what you say.