Defamation lawsuit between Hilton Head Plantation, former mayoral candidate still alive

A defamation lawsuit filed before the November election by Hilton Head mayoral candidate JoAnn Orischak against Hilton Head Plantation and its general manager continues in circuit court and is in the financial discovery phase.

James Elliott, the Mount Pleasant attorney representing the Hilton Head Plantation property owners’ association and the neighborhood’s general manager, Peter Kristian, declined to comment on the case’s status when asked whether settlement talks have taken place.

Orischak told The Island Packet on Tuesday the case is moving forward and the parties are currently “exchanging questions.”

She would have preferred to separate Kristian from the plantation Property Owners Association as a whole, Orischak said, but couldn’t since the general manager serves as the “sole spokesperson” for the POA’s board of directors.

“It is my sincerest hope that if I should prevail, I remain committed to donating any monies to legitimate Hilton Head Island-based charities or nonprofits,” Orischak said. “I was never a stranger to criticisms or false accusations (during my time on the school board), but the claims that were made about my mailings, that they violated federal law, were the most egregious and most damaging.”

Orischak is a former Beaufort County School Board member.

Orischak said she decided the severity of the accusations warranted a lawsuit, a path she’d “never taken before.”

Since the original filing on Nov. 3, 2022 — five days before the mayoral election — Kristian and the neighborhood property owners’ association have contested Orischak’s defamation and “reputational damage” claims. Orischak seeks damages in excess of $7,500 and “reasonable” attorneys’ fees.

In the defendants’ response to the lawsuit, filed Dec. 8, 2022, Elliott argued that since Orischak was a public figure, the standard for defamation is higher and requires evidence of “actual malice” lacking in this incident. The defendants also argue no defamatory statement was made, since Orischak’s name was not mentioned in the incident that sparked the suit.

The lawsuit sprung from a mailing mishap during Orischak’s campaign in the Hilton Head Island 2022 mayoral election, which saw her secure the most votes in the Nov. 8 general election but not the 50% needed to win. She later lost to current mayor Alan Perry in a Nov. 22 runoff.

During her campaign, Orischak used the Postal Service’s “every door direct mailing” system to send campaign materials to addresses throughout Hilton Head Plantation, the largest private community on Hilton Head Island and home to around 10,000 residents. She paid the post office $847 to distribute the fliers.

Although the service was paid for, Orischak previously said she wasn’t aware that mail sent through the every door direct mailing service required a specific postage mark, and the postal employees who inspected the materials didn’t recognize the issue before distributing the mail.

When the unmarked fliers appeared in mailboxes on Hilton Head Plantation, residents raised the issue with the neighborhood’s management. When Kristian was made aware, he decided to send a mass email to the neighborhood’s residents to alert them.

Kristian’s email didn’t mention Orischak by name, but warned residents of “candidates running for political office” improperly distributing materials and reminded residents doing so was a “violation of federal law.”

When Orischak learned the email had been sent, she provided Kristian with evidence that she’d paid for the service. Kristian sent another mass email the following day correcting the previous alert and informing plantation residents the “candidate followed the rules.”

Despite the correction, Orischak considered the damage to her reputation and campaign done.

Hilton Head Plantation ultimately became key in Perry’s mayoral victory. In the general election, Orischak earned 2,001 votes from Hilton Head Plantation precincts to Perry’s 1,920 — a tight race in Perry’s home community.

But in the runoff, the close contest became a decisive Perry victory. Orischak’s support fell to 972 votes, while Perry garnered roughly the same support with 1,716 votes.

“Perhaps it did have an outcome on the voting, but that shouldn’t be my primary motivation, getting votes,” Orischak previously told The Island Packet. “My primary motivation is doing the right thing ... accusations of violating federal law, the highest law in the land, is what elevated that to a formal complaint.”

Some of Orischak’s voters agreed the lawsuit against Hilton Head Plantation may have cost her the election.

“It was probably the major, No. 1 thing (that led to Orischak losing HHP) because I know on NextDoor, a lot of people from Hilton Head Plantation — and even outside — said, ‘I voted for JoAnn the first time, I’m not voting for her now,’” resident William Rose said on Nov. 23.