RQN Attorney Whitney Hulet Krogue obtained partial summary judgment in defense of Dr. Ben Abbott, an associate professor of aquatic ecology at Brigham Young University, who was sued in a $3 million defamation lawsuit by real estate developer Lake Restoration Solutions.
Dr. Abbott is an influential critic of Lake Restoration Solutions’ proposal to dredge and create man-made islands on Utah Lake. Dr. Abbott’s opposition to the proposal ahead of last year’s state legislative session caused the developers to sue him, seeking millions of dollars in damages and a permanent injunction preventing Dr. Abbott from saying anything “derogatory” about the project. Dr. Abbott filed a counterclaim asserting that the developer’s suit was a strategic lawsuit against public participation (a “SLAPP” action). On January 25, 2023, a judge ruled that the developers had no basis for their claims against Dr. Abbott.
“Our First Amendment protections mean that you can’t go out and sue someone who opposes you on an issue of public concern and an issue that is before the public and state governing bodies and do so on such flimsy facts and evidence as LRS has tried to provide here,” Krogue said.
3rd District Judge Laura Scott held as a matter of law that Abbott’s statements were either true or substantially true and that they were incapable of a defamatory meaning. She also held that Dr. Abbott’s statements were protected as “proper participation in the process of government” and that Lake Restoration Solutions had no “substantial basis” in fact or law for asserting its claims against Dr. Abbott. Based on this ruling, Dr. Abbott is entitled to have his costs and reasonable attorney fees covered by Lake Restoration Solutions. The question of whether the developers will have to pay Dr. Abbott compensatory damages is still pending.