ST. LOUIS – In a civil case involving social media, Michael Henry Blank of Chesterfield, Missouri, filed a complaint on May 21, 2018, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, against two unnamed people who allegedly had been defaming him on the internet.
The complaint lists Jane Doe and John Doe, address unknown, as defendants.
This case was filed in federal court because the people involved are considered to have diversity of citizenship. As stated in the petition instructions, “These are cases in which a citizen of one state sues a citizen of another state or nation, and the amount at stake is more than $75,000. In a diversity of citizenship case, no defendant may be a citizen of the same state as any plaintiff.”
The complaint alleges that both defendants committed libel against Blank. “The first defendant, John Doe, posted messages under the handle JaybirdtoldTweety and the shortened version Saybird on blogs titled Avenger Social and Avenger News,” the complaint said.
The complaint says that on May 28, 2016, Saybird posted a blog entry titled “Mr. Not So Hardness Michael H. Blank," claiming it was taken directly from an email sent to him from the second defendant, Jane Doe, referred to in the post as The Women of Twitter. The complaint says that this was the first time Blank became aware of the libel and the first time it was communicated publicly, to his knowledge.
In the filing, plaintiff Blank said, “In this blog post, my ability to perform sexually is questioned as the title suggests, claiming that I am impotent.”
In addition, the complaint says the post strongly infers that the plaintiff is a crossdresser and also alleged that the plaintiff harasses and abuses women. The complaint also said that the blog includes multiple pictures of the plaintiff plus his main profile from Twitter, clearly stating his residency as St. Louis, Missouri.
Blank alleges that the wrongs alleged in his complaint are continuing to occur. He petitions the court to order the disclosure of the identity of the offending parties as well as having the libelous post removed and replaced with a retraction. He also seeks “to recover all costs associated with this court action, punitive damages, and any actual damages revealed during discovery.”
In monetary terms, the complaint is asking the court to award him actual damages of $10,000 for the time spent in tracking down this post. He also seeks $500,000 in retribution for the post's targeted and malicious nature and the damage it has done to his reputation.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri Case No. 4:18-cv-00780-JAR