I'm not a lawyer, and you obviously have a background but I don't see why this would not qualify as a reckless disregard of the truth. This is damning and career threatening. If true, Meyer will never coach again. If false, a man's reputation is potentially shattered over a falsehood. Seems pretty cut and dry, but again, not a lawyer. Your logic for why he would not file the lawsuit makes sense though.
Again, if it wasn't clear earlier, please accept this explanation (and, for the record, I got an A in Dignitary Torts).
You say you're not a lawyer, yet you are the one who brings up "reckless disregard of the truth" You then go on to opine on the "damning and career threatening" yada yada.
Follow along.
First, the statement or publication must be PROVEN FALSE. That has not happened.
Second, the statement MIGHT be false, and if Urban were not a public figure, that MIGHT be enough to win the case.
Third, the imposition of "actual malice" or, as you put it, "reckless disregard of the truth" is very difficult to prove. Therefore, you COULD print a falsehood (i.e., something eventually proven to be false), but if you printed the falsehood in good faith (i.e., you investigated, you had sources, even if the sources lied, etc.), then there would be no actual malice.
Here is the problem with Urban EVER being able to establish actual malice. McMurphy asked him to comment BEFORE the article was published. Urban Liar actually claimed that the report about 2015 was an "invention". Essentially, Urban Liar called McMurphy a liar. And McMurphy then did further investigation, getting photos, text messages, etc. EVEN IF SHELLEY MEYER NEVER TOLD URBAN, the text messages from Shelley Meyer indicate that she DID discuss the issue with Urban. Thus, what McMurphy published was NOT "reckless disregard of the truth".
Look, here is the truth. Setting aside the 2015 incident for a moment, let's just focus on the 2009 incident. URBAN LIAR KNEW ABOUT THE INCIDENT, yet he has claimed that the 2009 incident "was not what was reported". OK...if true...HOW DOES HE KNOW? Instead, what ACTUALLY happened is that Urban Liar sent his life coach NOT TO ASCERTAIN WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED, but to ask Courtney Smith to drop the complaint against Zach Smith, because it could lead to Zach Smith getting fired. At no time did the "life coach" actually conclude "hey, Courtney Smith was never abused, the incident that was reported was not as it seems". Instead, Courtney Smith was asked to drop the charges.
So, just on the 2009 incident alone, Urban Liar's denials that "the incident was not as reported" simply are untrue and cannot be believed. He has no "file" on the incident, where he took statements, questioned people, or photographed the injuries. He just SAYS "it didn't happen like it was reported", while the truth is that the "life coach" pressured Courtney Smith to drop the complaint.
Now, we can continue to debate the 2015 incident, but as noted elsewhere, police were called NINE TIMES over a 3-year time period. There are texts from SHELLEY MEYER (who is, herself, under a separate obligation under Title IX to report the allegations as she is an Ohio Taint employee too) that indicate her awareness of the allegations. Now, you can try to construct a scenario that it is a "falsehood" that Urban Liar "knew" about the 2015 incident, in spite of the texts indicating his wife knew as well as the NINE TIMES that local police were called, but if you TRULY believe that, then you would have to conclude that Urban Liar is clueless and uninformed and powerless, and we all know he is anything but that.
Finally, Urban Liar could have made this WHOLE THING go away simply by admitting a small amount of knowledge and making a promise to be better in the future, and he couldn't bring himself to do that.
Liar will have a hard time proving "false statements", and he **** sure isn't going to prove "actual malice".
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