Judge tosses out defamation lawsuit brought by Mount Pleasant village attorney against critic of village government and Foxconn project
A lawsuit filed by Mount Pleasant's village attorney against a critic of village officials and the Foxconn project was dismissed Tuesday by Racine County Circuit Judge Jon Fredrickson.
Village attorney Chris Smith alleged he was defamed by resident Kelly Gallaher and sought punitive damages.
Smith's lawsuit, filed in March, claimed Gallaher's “hundreds” of negative posts on social media about village policies, politics, officials and employees have caused him "emotional distress."
Citing the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision of New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, Fredrickson said public officials, including Smith, must prove "actual malice" when claiming defamation.
Fredrickson said he did not believe Gallaher's website and social media accounts, "A Better Mount Pleasant," which she has used frequently since 2016 to question and criticize village officials, has done that.
"There are a lot of groups in Racine that monitor the city and the county to make sure we're doing what we're supposed to do and if we don't, they hold us accountable," Fredrickson said.
"That's the bargain we all signed up for when we took these jobs. It doesn't make it easy. It doesn't make it fun."
Gallaher, who was represented by the Arlington, Virginia-based Institute for Justice, said she was relieved by the decision.
"Every resident of Mount Pleasant won today because our public officials have been put on notice that they cannot silence the voices of their constituents through intimidation tactics like the frivolous lawsuit filed by Village Attorney Chris Smith," Gallaher said.
Gallaher's attorney, Robert McNamara, said there is no more basic American right than the right to criticize government officials in public. That is why his firm took the case pro-bono.
"Lawsuits like this are all too frequently designed not to win, but to bully people into silence because they fear bankruptcy," McNamara said. "This makes it clear people like Chris Smith can't bully people into giving up their First Amendment right."
Gallaher's relationship with elected officials and staff in Mount Pleasant has worsened since Foxconn announced plans to build a massive manufacturing plant in the village in 2017, but did not follow through on its promises.
Smith took exception with a post Gallaher wrote calling him a liar based on a quote in the Racine Journal Times related to the Village Board's vote in January to extend their terms from two years to three years, beginning in 2023.
Smith told the paper: "This change was first formerly brought to the board in April 2021, though discussions of it began back in 2018."
Gallaher filed open records requests with the village to find out when discussions took place. Smith did not give her the documents, leading to her post calling him a liar.
During the hearing Tuesday, Smith told Fredrickson the discussions had taken place, but they were in private. Fredrickson said had Smith been honest with Gallaher, the entire situation could have been avoided.
"You could have cleaned it up in one line," Fredrickson said. "The individual accused of defamation did the research. You didn't take the time to clarify with her."
Despite the dismissal, Smith said he's pleased the court determined he was truthful in his statements.
"My ultimate goal in filing this case was to publicly prove that I never lied," Smith said. "For the judge to make that decision at this point without having to go through a lengthy court process is satisfying to me and I am happy with this result."
Corrinne Hess can be reached at chess@gannett.com. Follow her @corrihess
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Judge dismisses defamation case against Mount Pleasant Foxconn critic
