Saadi v. Maroun [1]

Lawyer Edward T. Saadi brought a defamation lawsuit against Pierre Maroun -- Saadi's cousin -- and Hala Fakhre Maroun over statements they allegedly posted to blog biggestloosers.blogspot.com [2] (defunct).  According to Saadi's complaint, the Marouns' blog postings accused him of engaging in various forms of criminal and unethical behavior.

Saadi filed his complaint against Pierre, Hala, and several John Doe defendants in Florida federal court. As the case progressed, Saadi filed amended complaints that extended Saadi's defamation and infliction of emotional distress claims to other forum and website postings. An article posted to Alccresearch.com [3](defunct) allegedly accused Saadi of being associated with terrorism and with Hezbollah [4].  Saadi also added Maroun's International, LLC as a defendant. 

Pierre, Hala, and Maroun's International filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, arguing that the disputed statements were statements of opinion and that Saadi had not properly alleged that they had authored the statements. On September 9, 2008, the court denied their motion to dismiss the defamation claim, finding that "statements that Plaintiff is a mentally unstable stalker, a criminal, and that he has received gifts paid for with money stolen from the Lebanese governemnt, as well as statements that suggest that Plaintiff falsely purports to have a law degree and has committed statutory rape, imply factual knowledge."  Slip op. at 5 [5].  The court emphasized that the Marouns combined these statements with claims that the information was the result of "thorough investigation" and  posted them on sites that proclaim "OUR STORIES ARE TRUE."  Id. at 5-6.  Accordingly, the court held that the statements "assert facts that reasonably can be construed as defamatory." Id. at 6. 

The court granted the motion to dismiss the infliction of emotional distress claim against Hala, but denied the motion with respect to Pierre and Maroun's International.  The court did, however, grant their request for a more definite statement with respect to this claim. On September 22, Saadi filed his third amended complaint.

Update:

01/19/2009 -  Saadi voluntarily dismissed Hala Fakhre from the lawsuit.

03/02/2009 - Pierre Maroun filed a motion for summary judgment.

10/01/2009 - After completion of the trial, the court dismissed the claims against Maroun International. With respect to Pierre Maroun, the jury returned a verdict [6] for Saadi, awarding $90,000 in damages. 

11/02/09 - The court granted in part and denied in part Saadi's motion for a permanent injunction [7].  The court ordered Maroun to "remove all references to Edward T. Saadi from the internet postings that are reflected in Trial Exhibits 19 and 2o" and "enjoined [him] from republishing in any manner any statement that Edward T. Saadi is a terrorist."  Otherwise, the court denied the motion.

02/05/10 - The court upheld the magistrate judge's ruling [8] rejecting Saadi's motion asking the court to direct an assignment of Maroun's interest in a limited liability corporation, Maroun's International, LLC.  The magistrate found, and the court agreed, that the assignment would not bring Saadi any relief and was thus "futile and would waste the Court's resources."