A Facebook Lawsuit in Miami

February 22nd, 2010. By Hunter West

Okay, so here’s the deal. A high school student—an honors student, no less—is at odds with her teacher. They just didn’t seem to get along. They clashed over assignments. It happens. But the student had to vent. So Katherine Evans created a Facebook page titled ‘Ms. Sarah Phelps in the worst teacher I’ve ever had,’ and invited current and former students of the maligned instructor to post their own comments.

Some were in support of the student. Others were in support of the teacher. With Facebook, you get what you get. The student did not control the content beyond setting the page up in the first place, and after a few days she took it down.

For all of that, the honors student was suspended from school for three days, accused of cyber-bullying.

Bullying?

Or free speech?

That’s the question. And now it’s the basis for a lawsuit, brought by Evans.

Katherine Evans is now 19 and a sophomore at the University of Florida. Beyond seeking a “nominal fee” for what she argues was a violation of her First Amendment rights and compensation to pay her legal fees, the student seeks only for the suspension to be expunged from her record.

A reasonable request.

However, the former principal of Pembroke Pines Charter High School sought to have the case dismissed.

No dice, says Magistrate Judge Barry Garber. Judge Garber denied the former principal’s petition and rejected his claims of qualified immunity.

Ms. Evan’s legal representatives are hoping to bring the case against the former principal to trial in the spring.

Maria Kayanan is associate legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and is one of the lawyers representing Ms. Evans. Kayanan said the judge’s decision had clearly extended the protection of First Amendment rights to online writings of a nonthreatening manner.

“This is an important victory both for Ms. Evans and Internet free speech,” Ms. Kayanan said, “because it upholds the principle that the right to freedom of speech and expression in America does not depend on the technology used to convey opinions and ideas.”

Admittedly, dissing your teacher online is not for everyone. Some would argue that the move was without tact, that the student should have known that she might have potentially brought repercussions due to her actions.

However, free speech is the First Amendment and is a hallmark of democracy. And it’s not like the allegedly offensive Facebook page was biased. Certainly its genesis was from one side of the issue, but as The New York Times article of February 15^th suggests there were opinions on the Facebook page both in support of the student (and sponsor of the page) as well as against, supporting the teacher instead.

And given the kind of garbage that is readily available online—from hate sites, to porn sites—Ms. Evan’s Facebook page seems relatively tame.

Perhaps the decision of the student to take her disagreement with her teacher online may have been seen by some, as misguided. However, according to the First Amendment and the presiding judge who upheld the right to free speech, Katherine Evans had every right to say what she said, whether or not the rest of us agree with her tactics.

Be warned, of course, that if you diss someone online in a libelous fashion—be it Facebook, Twitter or a blog—be prepared for the consequences. You can be sued.

But, so, apparently, can you also be sued for saying that you can’t… 

Tags: Facebook

This was posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 4:57 pm and is filed under Emerging Issues, lawsuits . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.