Equine Law Blog
Imagine owning a boarding stable that had a barn fire, causing loss to some of the horses. Imagine later being sued from a disgruntled boarder whose horse perished in the fire. This happened to a Michigan stable, and the stable faced an aggressive legal challenge from the boarder. In the end, the trial court dismissed the case and the Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal in 2014. Why did the stable win? The liability release in its boarding contract played an important part of this result.
At Foster Swift, we've successfully defended equine-related defamation litigation. Today we're sharing an interesting case from Massachusetts that arose from a "tweet" of only a few words.
The Case
The plaintiff, Feld, owned a Thoroughbred named "Munition." She allegedly sold this horse through a Craigslist ad to a dealer who allegedly promised to place "Munition" with a "loving family" that would allow the plaintiff to visit him. Unfortunately, it was strongly suspected that the dealer instead shipped him to an auction where he may thereafter been slaughtered. Some media reports and Internet chatter followed the story of "Munition's" disappearance.
The defendant, Conway, was a Thoroughbred Bloodstock Agent who became involved in a heated Internet discussion regarding "Munition's" disappearance; she posted on Twitter: “[Plaintiff] -- you are f***ing crazy!” Because of this single "tweet," the plaintiff sued for defamation, claiming that the "tweet" defamed her reputation and attacked her sanity. In response, the defendant asked the Court to dismiss the case on the basis that the "tweet" was not defamatory but instead was mere opinion and hyperbole. The court agreed.
