No Claim Based on Perez Hilton’s Publication of Unsolicited but Inflammatory Reader Email – Wargo v. Lavandeira
24 11 2013[Post by Venkat Balasubramani]
Wargo v. Lavandeira, JAMS Arbitration No. 1220041183 (Mar. 24, 2013)
Lavandeira runs the popular Perez Hilton website, which has been involved in its fair share of legal disputes.
In response to an item (presumably about Angelina Jolie—the dispute stems from an event in 2007!) posted by Perez, Wargo sent him the following email:
Perez you are a FAT GAY PIG! Angelina is a ugly whore! You love her because she is a Fag lover! Your brother is a gay little jerk just like your fat ugly ass! MANGELINA is a disgusting gross skank.
The subject line of the email read: “I Hate Skankelina the Homewrecker.” The opinion does not disclose any facts indicating that Wargo and Lavendeira had a business or other relationship. [What would prompt a stranger to send such an animated email to Perez left me scratching my head, but to each her own, I guess.]
Perez promptly published the email, along with Ms. Wargo’s email address. Unfortunately for Ms. Wargo, she had sent the above email using her work email address. As a result, executives at the company she worked at “received a flood of angry emails protesting [Ms. Wargo’s] comments.” Wargo’s employer turned around and fired her.
The dispute raised the question of whether Lavandeira’s publication of the email violated the terms of PerezHiton.com website.
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