The public pays the salaries of public employees like college professors, and is legally liable for the actions of public employees acting within the course and scope of their employment.
Public employees have less right to privacy regarding their work behavior than private employees do.
UW-Whitewater professor sues former student over online comments
Andrea Anderson
May 22, 2014
A [University of Wisconsin] UW-Whitewater professor is suing her former graduate student, saying the student's comments on websites are defamatory.
“When you make false statements of fact repeatedly about another person with the intent of harming them, that's over the line,” said Tim Edwards, attorney for UW-Whitewater communications professor Sally Vogl-Bauer.
“If you truthfully say, 'In my experience, this isn't a good teacher, I didn't have a good experience, she was late' and that's your opinion, that's fair," Edwards said.
Vogl-Bauer is suing Anthony Llewellyn for defamation.
The lawsuit alleges Llewellyn “engaged in an intentional, malicious and unprivileged campaign to defame Dr. Vogl-Bauer, resulting in substantial economic, reputational and emotional injuries.”
Websites dedicated to students reviewing their instructors have proliferated. The Whitewater case raises the question of when online comments become defamation.
Llewellyn posted videos on YouTube and wrote comments on Blogger.com and TeacherComplaints.com describing what he said Vogl-Bauer did to him while he was in her communication theories class in spring 2013.
A few of Llewellyn's claims are Vogl-Bauer:
-- Said he didn't belong in college
-- Labeled him as a horrible student
-- Docked him points on assignments
-- Caused him to fail out of school
Llewellyn said he spoke with Vogl-Bauer in April about her behavior before he was notified in June that he failed her class.
After trying to communicate with UW-Whitewater Department of Communication faculty and staff and university administration, Llewellyn sent emails to the Eastern Communication Association, Better Business Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission describing Vogl-Bauer's behavior as “degrading, demeaning, verbally attacking,” according to court documents...
Read more here: UW-Whitewater professor sues former student over online comments
UPDATE AUG. 24, 2014
I received the following information:
IS A SETTLEMENT IN THE WORKS FOR VOGL-BAUER V. LLEWELLYN?
Anthony Llewellyn now has three lawyers, Andrew Price, Kate E. Maternowski, and Laura Brenner . Jury trial is still scheduled for SEP 15 - SEP 17, 2014, in the Walworth County Judicial Center Courtroom of the Honorable Phillip A Koss; however, it is hard to find any of Anthony Llewellyn's videos online. IS HE TAKING THE VIDEOS DOWN?
Sally Vogl-Bauer apparently had her pre-trial hearing AUG 20, 2014. It is no longer listed on the pending court docket.
Visit http://wcca.wicourts.gov/index.xsl . Click agree.
On next page enter name = Llewellyn,
County = Walworth,
Case Number = 2013CV001140.
You'll see suit history and public data about Sally Vogl-Bauer and Anthony Llewellyn.
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