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High School Principal Sues Students for Defamation over Posting on MySpace
In December 2005, three false profiles on the MySpace social networking website were created, all relating to a Pennsylvania high school principal, Eric Trosch. The profiles, allegedly created by several students at Mr. Trosch’s school, indicated that Mr. Trosch was a beer-drinking, steroid-using, marijuana-smoking pornography aficionado.
MySpace removed all three profiles quickly after being contacted by school officials. The school also disciplined the students involved. One student has since sued Mr. Trosch and the school district over the response, claiming among other things that the school’s response violated the student’s freedom of speech rights and interfered with his parents’ freedom to judge how best to raise and educate their child.
Mr. Trosch has now filed his own lawsuit against the four students allegedly responsible for creating and posting the false profiles. The suit claims that the students committed defamation by creating profiles that contained Mr. Trosch’s name, official portrait, and various unsubstantiated allegations, derogatory comments and false statements.
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