T&J Towing v. Kurtz [1]

On April 5, 2010, T&J Towing of Kalamazoo, Michigan, filed a defamation lawsuit  against Justin Kurtz, a 21-year-old student at Western Michigan University. The dispute revolves around Kurtz's creation of a Facebook page [2] called “Kalamazoo Residents against T&J Towing.” T&J seeks $750,000 in damages and a court order that Kurtz “immediately cease and desist any further libelous and slanderous written claims” about the company.

According to press [3] reports [4], Kurtz created the page days after T&J towed his car from the parking lot of his apartment complex. On the page, Kurtz claims that T&J removed his parking permit and improperly towed his car.  As of the time of writing, the Facebook group had over 13,800 members, many of whom have posted comments about their own negative experiences with the company.

The complaint [5] alleges that Kurtz "has falsely and publicly claimed that Plaintiffs have towed vehicles where no violation has occurred and which claims are untrue." Cmpt. ¶ 4.  It also suggests that Kurtz is responsible for the postings of other Facebook users, alleging that Kurtz "has absolutely no way of knowing whether or not all of the written submissions to his website have any truth or validity." Id.¶ 7.

Kurtz filed an answer [6] on April 30, 2010 and asserted counterclaims for violations of the Michigan Consumer Protection Act and abuse of process.