Arizona water company sues customer for defamation over Facebook video

[Newsjock]

Source: KTVK Phoenix

A valley woman who posted video of what she says was yellow water coming from her faucet is now being sued for defamation by the utility.

Johnson Ranch resident Emily Hughes was in for a shock when she turned on her tap on a recent morning. “I came downstairs and went to wash my dishes and there was yellow water," she says.

But if Hughes was surprised by what she described as yellow water coming from her faucet, she was even more surprised by what followed, after she posted video of it online.

... It is a defamation lawsuit, seeking $100K in damages,and accusing Hughes of making disparaging postings, with the intent to disparage and harm Johnson Utilities. That is the private utility that delivers water to Hughes and other customers in the Southeast valley.

Read more: http://www.azfamily.com/home/Water-company-sues-customer-for-defamation-229623621.html

[gollygee]

1. Was there yellow water coming out of her faucet?

You can't sue for defamation is someone is telling the truth.

[Shrike47]

4. You can sue anybody for anything. You just can't win.

You can intimidate them into shutting up, though, if you can afford a lawyer and they can't.

[gollygee]

5. Good point

[Egalitarian Thug]

8. Yes, unfortunately(?) they can,

it's called a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation and it isn't brought to win a judgment, but rather to tax, intimidate, and silence criticism.

It works very well.

[Auggie]

10. Some states have enacted statutory protections against SLAPPS ...

Wiki:

Twenty-eight states, the District of Columbia, and Guam have enacted statutory protections against SLAPPs.

These states are Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Washington. In Colorado and West Virginia, the courts have adopted protections against SLAPPs.

These laws vary dramatically in scope and level of protection, and the remaining states lack protections.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_lawsuit_against_public_participation

[appleannie1]

15. I live in PA. Since they started drilling for gas my water is black 75% of the time.

We now buy bottled water for drinking and cooking and buy bagged ice and physically put it in our icemaker so we have ice for drinks. There is nothing I can do about it and to add insult to injury, they are always putting ads on TV bragging how safe the drilling is and how it is all made up that it ruins drinking water. They are now allowed to lie to people.

[Auggie]

17. That's criminal ...

breaks my heart to hear you and others have to endure that.

[dogknob]

2. TPP previews! I think I'll try to skip the official premiere. n/t

[Auggie]

3. From May: History of violations, complaints stirring outrage over Johnson Utilities

Queen Creek, the wash that gives the town its name, smelled of sewage so often that Paul Caldwell’s children started calling it “Stinky Creek.”

He blamed the local water and sewage treatment company, Johnson Utilities, in his formal complaint to the Arizona Corporation Commission in late 2007. Since then, Pinal County residents have lodged 44 more such complaints, accusing the company of raw sewage in the streets, unsafe drinking water, smelly air and unresponsiveness.

The number of filings is not unusual for a company with nearly 55,000 residential customers, the commission says. But what emerges from dozens of state records is a consistency between angry complaints and violation notices issued by state environmental regulators.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has issued 13 notices of violations to Scottsdale-based Johnson Utilities in the last 10 years. That doesn’t include older ones or a high-profile mess this month, when a foul-smelling stew filled up the community ponds in the San Tan Heights subdivision.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/pinal/articles/20130517johnson-utilities-history-violations-complaints-outrage.html

THIS IS THE FUTURE OF PRIVATIZATION

[RKP5637]

6. I expect to see more of this as those with $$$$$ sue for postings whether

guilty or not. Companies don't like criticism.

[phantom power]

7. but... but... privatization of public services is supposed to == better customer service!

[LisaLynne]

13. I know! And they self-regulate and the market-self corrects so only ...

rainbows and unicorns are produced!!

[msongs]

9. privatization is the one thing on which dems and repubs politicians can agree nt

[Auggie]

11. Republicans? No way do I do take that bet.

[bemildred]

12. SLAPP suit. nt

[noiretextatique]

14. oh please. she posted a video showing the water yellow

perhaps they should be more concerned about the yellow water than trying to confuse the issue.

[Logical]

16. It is possible her pipes are the problem. nt