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Home > Phillips v. BoroughVENT.com

Phillips v. BoroughVENT.com [1]

Submitted by DMLP Staff on Thu, 05/08/2008 - 12:54

Summary

Threat Type: 

Lawsuit

Date: 

04/08/2008

Status: 

Pending

Location: 

Pennsylvania

Verdict or Settlement Amount: 

N/A

Legal Claims: 

Discrimination
BoroughVENT.com, an online forum to discuss the Borough of Gettysburg, PA and surrounding region, and one of its adminstrators, Debra Golden, were the recipients of a complaint filed with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. The complaint, brought by two... read full description
Parties

Party Receiving Legal Threat: 

www.BoroughVENT.com aka Deborah Golden

Type of Party: 

Individual

Type of Party: 

Individual

Location of Party: 

  • Maryland

Location of Party: 

  • Pennsylvania

Legal Counsel: 

Pro se
Description

BoroughVENT.com, an online forum to discuss the Borough of Gettysburg, PA and surrounding region, and one of its adminstrators, Debra Golden, were the recipients of a complaint [2] filed with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. The complaint, brought by two Maryland residents, alleges that the administrators and users of the site posted comments that berated, insulted, demeaned, and intimidated them in violation of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act [3] (PHRA).

More specifically, the complaint alleges that "Respondent used unreasonable profanity in verbal assaults against Complainants" and that "Respondent referred to Complainant Phillips in sexual, scatological, sexist and disability-bigoted language" in violation of sections 5(d) and (e) of the PHRA.

Statements quoted in the complaint include the following: "She and her husband are no more than extortionists and terrorists"; "Beware shop owners, the Bitch on Wheels ... who sues people to have handicap ramps, has hit three stores today... This woman's extortion ends NOW!"; "I think we should have posters in all of the business downtown with her photo explaining what she is doing"; and "Speaking of head-hunting, that's what I want from this couple: their head (figuratively, of course)."

Related Links: 

  • The Evening Sun: Disabilities-rights activist fights BoroughVENT creators [4]
Details

Web Site(s) Involved: 

BoroughVENT [5]

Content Type: 

  • Text

Publication Medium: 

Forum

Subject Area: 

  • Free Speech
Court Information & Documents

Jurisdiction: 

  • Pennsylvania

Source of Law: 

  • Pennsylvania

Court Name: 

Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission

Court Type: 

Administrative

Case Number: 

200705059

Relevant Documents: 

PDF icon 2008-04-02-Phillips Complaint.pdf [6]
CMLP Information (Private)

Threat Source: 

User Feedback

CMLP Notes: 

came in via email

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Source URL (modified on 08/20/2014 - 11:06pm): https://www.dmlp.org/threats/phillips-v-boroughventcom

Links
[1] https://www.dmlp.org/threats/phillips-v-boroughventcom
[2] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-04-02-Phillips%20Complaint.pdf
[3] http://www.phrc.state.pa.us/legal/forms/Laws%20READ.pdf
[4] http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_8957832
[5] http://www.boroughvent.com/
[6] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-04-02-Phillips%20Complaint.pdf