Lawsuit Over Two-Word Tweet Moves Forward

An anonymous reader writes: A defamation suit filed by a former Minnesota high school student has gotten approval from a federal judge to proceed. The suit was filed in response to a suspension issued by the school after Reid Sagehorn published a two-word comment on Twitter. In 2014, there existed a Twitter ostensibly about confessions from students at Sagehorn's high school. That account asked if Sagehorn had made out with a particular female teacher, and Sagehorn jokingly replied, "Actually yes." Not long after, he was suspended for five days, and that suspension was later extended to the rest of the month. The school administration convinced his parents to withdraw him from the school and send him to a different one. The town's police chief even spoke about it to the media, saying the comment was likely a felony. Sagehorn filed the lawsuit seeking damages and an expungement of the disciplinary actions.

Comments

Re:Headline is stupid

[skam240]

Also, the meaning of the word "actually" in this context is the same as "literally", meaning that the tweet was not a joke no matter what the kid tweeting intended.

So it's not a joke if someone implies that what they're saying is true? Do you even know what a joke is?

Re: The death of common sense

[BarbaraHudson]

He knowingly falsely accused a teacher of having sex with a minor. Tweets live forever. A suspension is more than appropriate, as is transfer to another school so the victim (the teacher) doesn't have to run into him at her job

If the school hadn't taken this action they would have been liable for the unhealthy work environment for not removing someone who has basically admitted to the school that he sexually harassed her.

Re:Headline is stupid

[Technician]

It's not any crime if it is true. Slander only happens when the statement is false. Has an investigation been completed? or is this a pre-emptive strike against the student to suppress a possible truth?