A week after a Texas wedding photographer made international headlines for winning a $1 million jury verdict against a pair of former clients who trashed her professional reputation, an Oregon wedding photographer filed a lawsuit with some striking similarities.
Ashley Lacy, who ran a photography business out of The Dalles, claims in her $98,000 lawsuit that the director of the city’s parks district falsely blasted her in an email to community members earlier this year. He had complained about her in a dispute over photos she took at a father-daughter dance.
Lacy was immediately bombarded with hate mail and texts and was harassed in the grocery store, her suit states. DJs and venue owners said they wouldn’t do business with her and her daughter was bullied at school, according to her suit. Her business dropped off by 90 percent, she says.
Lacy determined that she had no other choice but to move out of the 15,000-person town to elsewhere in Wasco County in hopes of salvaging her business, the suit says.
Although Lacy’s claims have a lot in common with the lawsuit filed by Dallas area photographer Andrea Polito, the timing is “wholly coincidental,” Lacy’s lawyer said.
The Oregon lawsuit, filed Monday in Wasco County Circuit Court, has been in the developmental stages for months, said Portland attorney Taylor Duty.
Defamation lawsuits of this kind are becoming increasingly common as comments of all kinds proliferate in emails, Facebook posts, tweets and texts and can reach vast audiences.
The state’s courts have only begun to touch on the many issues surrounding electronic defamation. In 2016, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled for the first time on the issue of Internet consumer reviews on Yelp and other sites, siding with consumers as long as it’s clear they’re expressing their opinions and aren’t solely stating false facts.
According to Lacy’s lawsuit, the director of the Northern Wasco County Parks and Recreation District sent out an email that prompted comments such as these:
“I will encourage everyone I know to avoid your business,” stated one community member.
“I cannot believe how unprofessional you are! I hope your business TANKS!!!” stated another.
Lacy’s lawsuit says two of her photography clients referenced the director’s email before canceling their contracts for Lacy to shoot their upcoming weddings, causing her to lose several thousand dollars.
Scott Baker, the director of the parks and recreation district, emailed a statement to The Oregonian/OregonLive, saying the district looks forward to prevailing in court.
According to Lacy’s lawsuit, the dust-up began after she volunteered to shoot photos of two community events for free in January and February. Lacy required all participants to sign a liability release and the parks district said it would handle the signing of the waivers, the suit states.
Three parents approached her while she was shooting the Daddy Daughter Dance and said they hadn’t signed waivers and wanted her to delete photos of their children to avoid public release, the suit says.
After three more parents told her they wanted their photos deleted, Lacy told the district that she couldn’t release the photos she shot because of the lack of waivers and potential liability, the suit states.
The lawsuit alleges that Baker retaliated by sending out an email to event participants falsely stating that Lacy “feels that the Park District did not adequately promote her business at these events, and so she should not have to provide the photos at all.” He included Lacy’s email address and phone number.
In a response to The Oregonian/OregonLive, the parks district stated: “The district does not believe these claims are proper under the facts and the law. The district made every reasonable effort to work with Ms. Lacy to allow for the distribution of her photographs. As a result, the district looks forward to a decision in its favor from the court in this matter.”
Lacy is seeking $18,300 in economic losses and $80,000 for emotional distress and anxiety.
