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Home > FORBA v. Hagan

FORBA v. Hagan [1]

Submitted by DMLP Staff on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 12:11

Summary

Threat Type: 

Lawsuit

Date: 

11/14/2008

Status: 

Concluded

Disposition: 

Injunction Issued
Withdrawn

Location: 

Kentucky

Verdict or Settlement Amount: 

N/A

Legal Claims: 

Copyright Infringement
Defamation
Trade Secrets
FORBA Holdings, a dental practice management company, sued blogger Debbie Hagan after she posted internal FORBA documents on her blog, Dentist the Menace, which covers alleged misconduct in the dental profession. According to the complaint, Google search crawlers indexed a... read full description
Parties

Party Receiving Legal Threat: 

Debbie Hagan

Type of Party: 

Organization

Type of Party: 

Individual

Location of Party: 

  • Tennessee
  • Delaware

Location of Party: 

  • Kentucky

Legal Counsel: 

Thor Y. Urness, Jonathan D. Rose - Boult, Cummings, Conners & Berry, PLC

Legal Counsel: 

Pro se
Description

FORBA Holdings, a dental practice management company, sued blogger Debbie Hagan after she posted internal FORBA documents on her blog, Dentist the Menace [2], which covers alleged misconduct in the dental profession.

According to the complaint, Google search crawlers indexed a password-protected FTP site hosting FORBA internal documents, and Hagan was able to obtain copies of these documents through a Google search for the term "forbainfo.com." The documents in question included marketing materials, recruitment strategy information, spreadsheets and facility information lists, as well as internal PowerPoint presentations. Hagan allegedly provided links to certain of the FORBA documents and posted copies of others for viewing and download.  FORBA contended that, by posting these materials, Hagan misappropriated trade secrets embodied in the confidential documents and infringed its copyrights in the PowerPoint presentations.  

FORBA also alleged that Hagan defamed the company on her blog by falsely claiming that FORBA engaged in "barbaric back alley dentistry and abusing children children in the process."

After filing suit, FORBA moved for a preliminary injunction barring Hagan from publishing its confidential and copyright-protected materials.  In November 2008, Hagan consented to the entry of a permanent injunction prohibiting her from publishing or posting "any internal and/or copyrighted documents or other information of FORBA obtained, directly or indirectly, through access to the FORBA FTP Site . . . and/or . . . any other internal and/or confidential FORBA documents or information. . . ."

FORBA subsequently dismissed its defamation claim voluntarily, and later moved to voluntarily dismiss the entire case without prejudice, leaving the consent injunction in n full force and effect. The court granted the motion in April 2009, dismissing the case and leaving the consent injunction in place. 

Related Links: 

  • Dentist The Menace: Fighting For The Children Gets Blogger Sued by FORBA-Small Smiles [3]
Details

Web Site(s) Involved: 

Dentist the Menace [2]

Content Type: 

  • Text

Publication Medium: 

Blog

Subject Area: 

  • Copyright
  • Defamation
  • Trade Secrets
  • Prior Restraints
  • Gripe Sites
Court Information & Documents

Jurisdiction: 

  • Kentucky

Source of Law: 

  • United States
  • Kentucky

Court Name: 

United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky (Ownsboro)

Court Type: 

Federal

Case Number: 

4:08-cv-00137-JHM

Relevant Documents: 

PDF icon 2008-11-14-FORBA v. Hagan Complaint.pdf [4]
PDF icon 2008-12-20-FORBA Motion for Partial Summary Judgment.pdf [5]
PDF icon 2008-12-23-FORBA Motion for Sanctions.pdf [6]
PDF icon 2008-11-14-FORBA Memorandum in Support Of Motion for TRO and Premanent Injunction.pdf [7]
PDF icon 2008-11-14-Order and Notice of Hearingf.pdf [8]
PDF icon 2008-11-17-Proposed Consent Injunction.pdf [9]
PDF icon 2008-11-17-Consent Injunction.pdf [10]
PDF icon 2008-12-02-Hagan Motion for Extension of Time to Answer.pdf [11]
PDF icon 2008-12-03-FORBA Opposition to Motion for Extension of Time to Answer.pdf [12]
Package icon 2008-12-15-Hagan Answer with Exhibits.zip [13]
PDF icon 2009-01-06-Hagan Motion for Extension of Time to File Response Motion for Sanctions and for Partial Summary Judgment.pdf [14]
PDF icon 2009-01-08-FORBA Opposition to Motion for Extension of Time to File Response Motion for Sanctions and for Partial Summary Judgment.pdf [15]
PDF icon 2009-02-02-Hagan Response to Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and Motion to Dismiss.pdf [16]
PDF icon 2009-02-07-FORBA Reply and Response to Motion to Dismiss.pdf [17]
PDF icon 2009-03-04-Order Denying FORBA Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and Hagan's Motion to Dismiss.pdf [18]
PDF icon 2009-04-13-FORBA's Motion to Dismiss Without Prejudice and With Consent Injunction in Place.pdf [19]
PDF icon 2009-04-14-Order Dismissing Action With Prejudice With Consent Injunction in Place.pdf [20]
CMLP Information (Private)

Priority: 

2-Normal

Threat Source: 

User Feedback

CMLP Notes: 

Via Marc Randazza

DMLP Logo


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

Links
[1] https://www.dmlp.org/threats/forba-v-hagan
[2] http://debbiehagan.blogspot.com/
[3] http://debbiehagan.blogspot.com/2008/11/fighting-for-children-gets-blogger-sued.html
[4] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-11-14-FORBA%20v.%20Hagan%20Complaint.pdf
[5] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-12-20-FORBA%20Motion%20for%20Partial%20Summary%20Judgment.pdf
[6] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-12-23-FORBA%20Motion%20for%20Sanctions.pdf
[7] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-11-14-FORBA%20Memorandum%20in%20Support%20Of%20Motion%20for%20TRO%20and%20Premanent%20Injunction.pdf
[8] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-11-14-Order%20and%20Notice%20of%20Hearingf.pdf
[9] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-11-17-Proposed%20Consent%20Injunction.pdf
[10] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-11-17-Consent%20Injunction.pdf
[11] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-12-02-Hagan%20Motion%20for%20Extension%20of%20Time%20to%20Answer.pdf
[12] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-12-03-FORBA%20Opposition%20to%20Motion%20for%20Extension%20of%20Time%20to%20Answer.pdf
[13] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-12-15-Hagan%20Answer%20with%20Exhibits.zip
[14] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-01-06-Hagan%20Motion%20for%20Extension%20of%20Time%20to%20File%20Response%20Motion%20for%20Sanctions%20and%20for%20Partial%20Summary%20Judgment.pdf
[15] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-01-08-FORBA%20Opposition%20to%20Motion%20for%20Extension%20of%20Time%20to%20File%20Response%20Motion%20for%20Sanctions%20and%20for%20Partial%20Summary%20Judgment.pdf
[16] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-02-02-Hagan%20Response%20to%20Motion%20for%20Partial%20Summary%20Judgment%20and%20Motion%20to%20Dismiss.pdf
[17] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-02-07-FORBA%20Reply%20and%20Response%20to%20Motion%20to%20Dismiss.pdf
[18] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-03-04-Order%20Denying%20FORBA%20Motion%20for%20Partial%20Summary%20Judgment%20and%20Hagan%27s%20Motion%20to%20Dismiss.pdf
[19] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-04-13-FORBA%27s%20Motion%20to%20Dismiss%20Without%20Prejudice%20and%20With%20Consent%20Injunction%20in%20Place.pdf
[20] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-04-14-Order%20Dismissing%20Action%20With%20Prejudice%20With%20Consent%20Injunction%20in%20Place.pdf