Facedumped & Filing a Lawsuit: Love, Facebook Style

July 14th, 2011. By AbiK

Girl plays Mafia Wars.

Boy plays Mafia Wars.

They’re in the same clan!

Boy lives in Washington.

Girl lives in Michigan.

So what?

They chat.

They graduate to the phone.

They really chat—sometimes 8 or 9 hours a day!

Girl sends boy gifts.

Girl books flight to Washington. Books hotel.

Tickets to the Mariners’ opening game, too!

Girl hears from Boy just before big trip.

Boy tells girl she can visit.. as a friend.

Boy says wrong thing!

No Boy no!

Boy oh boy. Well, that’s the abbreviated version. There’s a few other critical details—like the girl, Cheryl Gray a paralegal from Livonia, MI—is 50, though she allegedly first told the boy, Wylie Iwan of Washington, she was 42…that indicate this relationship was, of course, off to a good honest start.

But the story gets better. See, that flight, hotel, game tickets cost a pretty sum. And Cheryl must’ve thought about that after she got Facedumped (yes, it’s reported Wylie said the “F”word via Facebook…F as in “friend“, that is). And she thought about the Christmas gifts and Valentine’s Day flowers she sent. Perhaps she reflected on the dearth of those coming her way, as there are no reports of any FTD deliveries heading eastbound with this one.

And, as we’ve all heard, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, right?

So after giving it thought, what does this paralegal do? She files a lawsuit.

On May 18th, Cheryl Gray filed civil lawsuit against Wylie Iwan seeking $8,368.88 for misrepresentation (would shaving 8 years off your age be “misrepresentation” too? just asking…), promissory estoppel, defamation of character and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Keep in mind, this, from a woman who’s never met this man “live”. They sort of dated via Facebook. For about 3 months. Oh hell, who am I kidding—they talked. They didn’t “date”—at least not in the traditional sense. And, sadly, talk can be quite cheap especially when it’s only happening on a Facebook chat screen. Seriously.

I’m also wondering how these two—both apparently have children—managed to “chat” with each other for up to 9 hours at a clip—and play Mafia Wars? Might’ve been some clues there to answer that age-old “is it a match made in heaven?” question.

Regardless, is there really a lawsuit here?

I don’t think so.

Hurt? Definitely. Humiliation? Granted. Dishonesty? Perhaps. Cause for litigation? Uh…not seeing it.

I feel badly for Cheryl Gray. She fell and fell hard. But I don’t see a broken heart after a pseudo three-month online relationship as lawsuit worthy. So, Cheryl, maybe the best thing would be to just turn and walk away. Kinda reminds me of  that Joe Walsh song “Walk Away”. And with that, while you’re in break-up mode, rather than embracing your anger in a lawsuit, I’ll leave you with a spur of the moment love-gone-wrong playlist to drown your sorrows in:

Alanis Morissette, “You Oughta Know”

Beyonce, “Irreplaceable”

Beyonce, “Best Thing I Never Had”

Fleetwood Mac, “Go Your Own Way”

Steven Stills/CSN, “I Give You Give Blind”

The Supremes, “Where Did Our Love Go?”

Bonnie Raitt, “I Can’t Make You Love Me”

U2, “One”

Elvis Presley, “Suspicious Minds”

Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Free Bird”

Tags: Cheryl Gray, Facebook, Facebook Lawsuit, Facedumped, Wylie Iwan

This was posted on Thursday, July 14th, 2011 at 9:44 am and is filed under Emerging Issues, Internet/E-commerce, lawsuits . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.