This past week, an Essex county jury sent a loud and clear message to the defendant who took to cyberspace to harass our clients: if you harass people on the Internet so that they cannot enjoy the peaceful comfort of their own home, you will pay dearly for it.
I have been privileged to represent the Lyons family for many years. They are wonderful people. They have been in their home since 1989 along with their two wonderful boys who were 14 and 15 when the harassment began. In approximately 2000, a real estate developer bought a lot of land at the end of the street and built a large house which differed from the homes on the street. The other homes were all part of the town’s historic district but not the McMansion that the developer built.
Approximately three years after moving into the neighborhood, the developer announced that he was going to purchase the parcel of land behind plaintiffs’ home and develop it. The plaintiffs had enjoyed the wooded area behind the house for many years and were under the belief that it could not be developed. They informed their neighbor that they would oppose the development of the land and the building of any homes on the wooded lot and did in fact oppose the plans for the subdivision that the developer presented to the town’s planning board.
The developer became aggravated with the plaintiffs’ opposition and began harassing the plaintiffs, including their two sons, primarily online through a fictitious email account. The developer got a high school friend to assist in the harassment which included comments on social media about the plaintiffs as well as their family business in town. Once example of the harassment included people showing up at the Lyon’s house with trucks and trailers because of a Craiglist ad stating that they were giving away used golf carts. Mrs. Lyons had to call the police to get all the people off her lawn, many who were upset when they learned it was a hoax. Each harassment thereafter became increasingly more mean spirited and threatening.
Eventually, the plaintiffs sought and received the IP address for the computer from which most of the harassing comments and posts were initiated and turned it over to the police who then traced it all back to the developer and his friend. Once it was determined that it was the developer and his wife who were harassing the Lyons, our office brought an action on behalf of the Lyons in Essex Superior Court against the developer and his wife for intentional infliction of emotional distress and interference with an advantageous business relationship, specifically a loss of earnings in their family business due to statements made online by the defendants pretending to be the Lyons.
On April 22, after a five day jury trial, the jury awarded $500,000 to each of the Lyons two sons who were minors at the time of the harassment. The jury awarded Mr. and Mrs. Lyons $1,250,000.00 each, and it awarded loss profits to the family business in the amount of $1,300,000.00, for a total of $4,800,000.00, which, with statutory interest, amounted to a judgment of $8,320,036.75.
We have all heard the horrific stories of kids being harassed by others on the internet and are aware of how it can affect them. This jury understood the effect it could have on both the children and the parents. Fortunately, the jury let it be known that in their county, harassing people who just want to live peacefully in their neighborhood comes at a pretty hefty price. While the judgment is not likely collectible in full, the jury sent a strong message to the people of their community: cyberbullying is very expensive.
Sincerely,
Michael K. Gillis, Esq.
GILLIS & BIKOFSKY, P.C.
1150 Walnut Street
Newton, MA 02461
Phone: 617-244-4300
Fax: 617-964-0862
E-mail: mgillis@gillisandbikofsky.com