Grebner v. Lennox [1]

Ingham County Commissioner and Michigan political consultant Mark Grebner filed a defamation lawsuit in Michigan state court against three conservative activists for allegedly inserting false and defamatory information into his biographical Wikipedia entry. [2]  The defendants were three university students active in Republican politics: Dennis Lennox, Bradley Dennis, and Anthony Giammarinaro.  According to the Michigan Messenger [3], the allegedly defamatory edits accused Grebner of being a homosexual and of having been convicted of sexually abusing children. One defendant also allegedly inserted a picture of Osama bin Laden into the entry with the caption “One of Grebner’s biggest supporters in the 2004 election.”  Wikipedia removed the edits in question.

After discovery, the case was referred to mediation where the claims against all three defendants were resolved. According to the docket [4], the complaint against Dennis was dismissed without prejudice and without costs on March 19, 2010. Ultimately, the trial court entered a stipulation and order for entry of judgment regarding the remaining claims against Lennox and Giammarianaro on Feb, 25, 2011 when, according to a report [5] on a local political blog, Lennox agreed to pay Grebner $1,500.

The case was closed on March 11, 2011.