Williams v. Dunn & Xcentric - 1 - Complaint

FREUND, FREEZE & ARNOLD

A Legal Professional Association

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY

NORTHERN DIVISION

AT COVINGTON

LEWIS BERNARD WILLIAMS, JR

800 North Third Street, #417

Minneapolis, MN 55401

Plaintiff,

vs.

TARA DUNN aka TARA POPE

1419 Scott Street

Covington, KY 41011-3405

AND

XCENTRIC VENTURES LLC

c/o Statutory Agent

Maria Crimi Speth, Esq.

3200 N Central Ave., Suite 2000

Phoenix, AZ 85012

Defendants.

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CASE NO.

Judge:

Magistrate Judge:

COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY

JUDGMENT AND DAMAGES

COMES NOW Plaintiff, by and through counsel, and for his Complaint against the

Defendants states as follows:

PARTIES

1. Plaintiff Lewis Bernard Williams Jr. (hereinafter “Williams”) is a citizen of

Minneapolis, Minnesota.

2. Defendant Tara Dunn aka Tara Pope (hereinafter Defendant “Dunn”) is a citizen of

Covington, Kenton County, Kentucky.

3. Defendant XCentric Ventures LLC (hereinafter Defendant “XCentric”) is an Arizona

company that owns the website RipOffReport.com (hereinafter “RipOff Report”),

with its principal place of business in Arizona. XCentric conducts business in Ohio,

Kentucky and Minnesota.

Case: 2:15-cv-00172-WOB-JGW Doc #: 1 Filed: 09/29/15 Page: 1 of 8 - Page ID#: 1

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JURISDICTION AND VENUE

4. This is a civil action seeking damages as a result of the tortious conduct of Defendant

Dunn that was conducted in Cincinnati, Ohio and/or Covington, Kentucky.

5. The damages sought are from claims arising out of both the common law and statutes

of Ohio and/or Kentucky.

6. This is a civil action seeking damages as a result of the tortious conduct of Defendant

XCentric against Williams that was based upon electronic communication efforts and

solicitations of information among its editor, the Plaintiff and Defendant Dunn.

7. This Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a) because the amount in

controversy exceeds $75,000.

8. This Court has supplemental jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1367 for damages as a

result of the tortious conduct of Defendant XCentric in Ohio, Kentucky and

Minnesota.

9. Venue is proper in this District under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(3).

FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

10. Williams is a former football player who played briefly in the Canadian Football

League and then in the NFL and since then has been a private individual and

businessman.

11. In 2013 Williams learned that his kidneys were failing.

12. Williams participates in a kidney donor website entitled

livingkidneydonorsearch.com in an effort to locate a kidney donor.

13. In June 2013, Defendant Dunn contacted Williams as a potential donor.

14. In July 2013, Defendant Dunn came to Mississippi for a period of approximately 24

hours to meet Williams and his mother, Louise Williams.


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15. In June 2013, Defendant Dunn contacted the Methodist Hospital in Minneapolis, MN

to determine if she was an appropriate match as a donor. After the hospital ran tests,

Defendant Dunn was rejected as a physical donor.

16. On June 8, 2014, Defendant Dunn posted and then updated on September 30, 2014, a

defamatory post on the RipOff Report website accusing Williams of being a con man

who stole over $40,000 from women, a drug addict, and someone using women for

their money and organs.

17. The RipOff Report website is a location where consumers can report complaints and

reviews of vendors and the like. The site boasts over 8.9 million visits since its 1998

opening and has posted more than 33,000 reports against Ohio and Kentucky

businesses and/or residents.

18. Defendant Dunn’s posting against Williams on September 30, 2014 contained the

following defamatory statements:

a. “YOU CAN’T EVEN AFFORD WATER UNLESS SOMEONE IS PROVIDING IT

FOR POOR LITTLE WILLIAMS”;

b. “YOU HAVE QUITE A REPUTATION AS A CON HUSTLING PIECE OF S***

THAT THEY LEFT IN THE DUST. THIS HAS BEEN NOT ONLY PERSONAL

RELATIONSHIPS BUT PROFESSIONAL AS WELL”;

c. “GROW UP AND CLAIM YOUR STUFF ALREADY WITH YOUR

DELUSIONAL SELF”:

d. “YOU LIED ABOUT YOUR OWN CHILDHOOD LIKE YOUR DEADBEAT DAD

BEING A NAVY SEAL YET ACCORDING TO YOUR MOM AND HIS PUBLIC

OBITUARY HE AS (Sic) JUST A REGULAR GUY IN THE ARMY AND YOU

WAS JUST A LITTLE FARM BOY FROM MISSISSIPPI WHILE MOMMY


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DEAREST STATED HE WAS A PIECE OF S*** JUST LIKE YOU AND SHE

SAID SHE CHEATED ON HIM EVERY CHANCE SHE COULD GET”;

e. “YOU ARE USING WOMEN FOR PERSONAL GAIN AND A KIDNEY YOU

DON’T DESERVE”;

f. “YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO FALSELY SELL YOURSELF TO PEOPLE TRYING

TO GAIN SYMPATHY TO SAVE YOU WORTHLESS LIFE AND PAY FOR

YOUR PATHETIC LIFESTYLE”;

g. “YOU ARE IRRESPONSIBLE WHO WILL CREATE KIDS THAT YOU CAN’T

AFFORD AND PRETEND THAT IF YOUR OUT OF WEDLOCK B******* ARE

BROUGHT TO LIGHT IT’LL RUIN YOUR SO CALLED REP AND

ENDORSEMENTS THAT DON’T EXIST”; and finally

h. “I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT AN AMAZING PIECE

OF WORK THIS SOCIOPATH. IS.”

19. These defamatory posts remain on the RipOff Report website although Williams

made a request to Defendant XCentric that they be taken down.

20. As a result of the Defendant Dunn’s above-mentioned defamatory posts to the RipOff

Report website, Williams has suffered a significant drop in contacts on the kidney

donor website, while his health condition continues to become graver; further he lost

an endorsement opportunity.

21. Williams contacted the RipOff Report website after publication of Defendant Dunn’s

posts and communicated with Ed Magedson (hereinafter “Magedson”) via email who

represented himself as the “editor” of the site.


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22. Magedson advised Williams that he would help Williams with the alleged defamatory

post for no charge because of his situation as someone in need of a kidney donor and

requested that Williams send him information regarding his charity work.

23. In June of 2015, Magedson notified Williams that he refused to edit, modify, or

remove the posting.

COUNT ONE

Defamation

24. Williams incorporates and re-alleges herein paragraphs 1-23 of this Complaint.

25. Defendant Dunn knowingly with malice or with reckless disregard as to the truth or

falsity of the statements, published false statements on the website RipOff Report

and/or to third parties via electronic communication with the intent to injure

Williams’s reputation or expose him to public hatred, contempt, ridicule, shame or

disgrace.

COUNT TWO

Interference with a Business Relationship


27. Defendant Dunn without privilege to do so knowingly induced or otherwise

purposefully caused others to not enter into agreements to donate a kidney to

Williams.

28. Defendant Dunn without privilege to do so knowingly induced or otherwise

purposefully caused others to not enter into employment or endorsement agreements

with Williams.


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COUNT THREE

Publication of Private Facts


30. Defendants Dunn and XCentric intentionally and publicly disclosed facts concerning

the private life of Williams that are highly offensive and objectionable to a reasonable

person of ordinary sensibilities; and that the matter publicized is not of legitimate

concern to the public.

COUNT FOUR

Intentional Misrepresentation


32. Defendant XCentric, through its editor, knowingly or with utter disregard of its

likelihood made material representations to Williams, a seriously ill man, regarding

its intention to remove, edit or otherwise modify a defamatory, deeply personal, and

damaging publication on its website with the intent of misleading Williams into

relying upon it; for which Williams justifiably relied and was therefore injured by

said reliance.

COUNT FIVE

Estoppel


34. Defendant XCentric, through its editor, induced Williams to believe to his injury that

it would take steps to edit or otherwise modify the posting by Defendant Dunn so as

to cause no further injury to Williams’s reputation or attempts to obtain a kidney

donor.


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COUNT SIX

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress


36. Defendant Dunn knowingly caused serious emotional distress to a seriously ill man or

should have known that actions taken would result in serious emotional distress to

Williams; and Defendant Dunn’s conduct was so extreme and outrageous as to go

beyond all possible bounds of decency and was such that it can be considered as

utterly intolerable in a civilized community; and that Defendant Dunn’s actions

caused Williams mental injury and mental anguish that is serious and of a nature that

no reasonable man could be expected to endure it.

RELIEF

WHEREFORE, Williams demands a judgment as follows:

1. For compensatory damages in an amount to be determined in excess of $75,000.00;

2. For punitive damages in an amount to be determined in excess of $100,000.00;

3. For a declaratory judgment requiring Defendants to remove the RipOff Report posts

naming Williams and publish a complete retraction;

4. For an award of attorney fees and costs;

5. And an award of any and all other damages the Court deems appropriate.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Lucinda C. Shirooni Lucinda C. Shirooni (82669) FREUND FREEZE & ARNOLD 2400 Chamber Center Drive, Suite 200 Ft. Mitchell, KY 41017 Telephone: 859.292.2088 Email: [email protected]


mailto:[email protected]

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Susan Zeller Dunn (OH 0063893) Shannon M. Villalba (OH 0086800) VILLALBA DUNN LLC 8044 Montgomery Rd., Suite 700 Cincinnati, OH 45236

Telephone: 513.713.1434 Email: [email protected] [email protected] Attorneys for Plaintiff

Lewis Bernard Williams, Jr.




Williams v. Dunn & Xcentric - 1 - Complaint

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Transcript of Williams v. Dunn & Xcentric - 1 - Complaint