Tesla's Musk says cave rescuer's defamation case should be dismissed

By Jonathan Stempel

 

Tesla Inc. founder Elon Musk speaks at the unveiling event by "The Boring Company" for the test tunnel of a proposed underground transportation network across Los Angeles County, in Hawthorne, California, U.S. December 18, 2018. Robyn Beck/Pool via REUTERS

 

(Reuters) - Elon Musk, Tesla Inc's chief executive, asked a U.S. judge to dismiss a lawsuit by a British diver who helped rescue a boys soccer team trapped in a Thailand cave and said Musk defamed him by calling him a pedophile and child rapist.

 

In a filing on Wednesday with the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Musk's lawyers said their client's comments about Vernon Unsworth were free speech protected by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment even if they lacked any factual basis.

 

They also said Musk's "over-the-top" comments came amid a "schoolyard spat on social media," including Twitter, where participants "expect to read opinions, not facts," and that no one could have reasonably believed they were truthful.

 

These statements were "just imaginative attacks; even if offensive, such speculative insults are by their nature opinion and protected by the First Amendment," the lawyers said.

 

Musk on July 15 called Unsworth a "pedo guy" in a tweet to more than 22 million Twitter followers, a comment for which he later apologized. He also urged a BuzzFeed News reporter in an Aug. 30 email to investigate Unsworth and "stop defending child rapists."

Unsworth has denied those allegations.

 

He said he became a target after rescue divers declined to use a mini-submarine offered by Musk's SpaceX rocket company. Unsworth told CNN the offer was a "PR stunt" and the device would not have worked.

 

L. Lin Wood, a lawyer for Unsworth, rejected Musk's defense, saying it would effectively doom all lawsuits over alleged false and defamatory attacks on reputation published online.

 

"Mr. Musk does not let the facts or well-established law get in the way of his novel but inaccurate contentions in his motion to dismiss," Wood said on Thursday. "I am confident the trial court will likewise reject this fanciful position."

 

A hearing is set for April 1, 2019.

 

Unsworth, who lives in Hertfordshire County north of London, sought at least $75,000 in compensatory damages plus unspecified punitive damages in his Sept. 17 lawsuit.

 

The soccer team, including 12 boys and a coach, was freed from the cave on July 10 after an 18-day ordeal.

 

Musk has faced other litigation over his Twitter use. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused him of securities fraud for saying he had "secured" funding to take Tesla private for $420 per share, a big premium.

 

On Sept. 29, Musk agreed to pay a $20 million fine and step aside as the Palo Alto, California-based electric car company's chairman for three years to settle the SEC case.

 

The case is Unsworth v Musk, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No. 18-08048.

 

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-12-28

I like Musk for the most part, but yeah, nah, the dude was totally in the wrong here, and deserves to be judged as such in a court of law. 

As mentioned in OP, a hearing is scheduled for April 1, 2019 and, despite Mr. Unsworth's lawyer's protestations as to the basis of the appeal, the case may never get beyond that point.

Here's hoping someone can shut this mini-Trump up a bit.

6 minutes ago, Somtamnication said:

Here's hoping someone can shut this mini-Trump up a bit.

The SEC maybe already did.

This is going to be interesting, Musk can't keep his mouth shut by the looks of it.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if he does it again.....

I always like it when in the news reports as in the OP and as in Unsworth's court filing state that Musk tweeted his insults to his "more than 22 million Twitter followers" most of whom are probably electric car and rocket nerds and likely could not point out Thailand on a map.

3 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

I always like it when in the news reports as in the OP and as in Unsworth's court filing state that Musk tweeted his insults to his "more than 22 million Twitter followers" most of whom are probably electric car and rocket nerds and likely could not point out Thailand on a map.

pot kettle, hilarious

If the Musk defense team shows this video in court, the case might end right there.

 

25 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

I always like it when in the news reports as in the OP and as in Unsworth's court filing state that Musk tweeted his insults to his "more than 22 million Twitter followers" most of whom are probably electric car and rocket nerds and likely could not point out Thailand on a map.

If it was down solely to the number of Twitter followers who'd read his comments, it'd be practically a non issue, given their demographic and the fact that none of them would likely ever cross paths with Unsworth or anyone he knows. The problem is the subsequent blanket media coverage of the meltdown, which was so widespread that it'd surely have reached the ears of pretty much everyone who ever knew the plaintiff. 

Maybe so but that 22+Million Twitter follower number was in the original Unsworth court filing and appears in just about every news article on the case.

 

However this case will likely not hinge on how many people heard that Musk said in any manner of Mr. Unsworth being a 'pedo' but on previous US Supreme Court issues when someone chooses to make a totally unprovoked disparaging statement on a widely viewed media in this case being not Twitter but CNN.

 

... and by disparaging statement I am referring more to the "PR stunt" than the "stick it where it hurts" comments by Mr. Unswoth.

Musk is a maggot scumbag for slurring Vern with those comments, which were a generalisation of all expat mid to late age men who choose to live in Thailand. His wife should sue as well.

1 minute ago, Aussieroaming said:

Musk is a maggot scumbag for slurring Vern with those comments, which were a generalisation of all expat mid to late age men who choose to live in Thailand. His wife should sue as well.

However this case is in US federal Court in California which has rules and precedent on such matters.

27 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

If the Musk defense team shows this video in court, the case might end right there.

 

From a strictly legal perspective, there's a distinct difference between urging someone to shove something up his arse (being rude) compared to accusing someone of being a paedophile (defamation).

With that in mind, I'd say Mr Musk is likely to settle this before the case proceeds any further. I'm even willing to bet he does. Just saying...

27 minutes ago, Aussieroaming said:

Musk is a maggot scumbag for slurring Vern with those comments, which were a generalisation of all expat mid to late age men who choose to live in Thailand. His wife should sue as well.

I guess I am late age (at 70) but I did not consider the Musk comments as a "generalisation" of my character.

2 hours ago, Katipo said:

I like Musk for the most part, but yeah, nah, the dude was totally in the wrong here, and deserves to be judged as such in a court of law. 

Name calling seems to be in vogue today by CEOs (Musk) and presidents (we know who that is). It is generally taken for what it is, childish behaviour.

I personally think this situation has gotten out of hand. They should just kiss and make up.

7 minutes ago, neeray said:

They should just kiss and make up.

Are you suggesting that either Vern or Elon (or both) is gay? I feel a defamation case (or two) coming on 

 

15 minutes ago, neeray said:

I guess I am late age (at 70) but I did not consider the Musk comments as a "generalisation" of my character.

Like wise, I just considered it a stupid low grade comment from a spoilt  fxxxxxx child.

Sounds like defense team running scared he knows this will cost him a <deleted> fortune 555

2 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

Here's hoping someone can shut this mini-Trump up a bit.

3 rd post and within an hour , a Trump mention .

You got in there quick 

What?! You’ve been begging for the guy to sue you! Be careful what you wish for because you might just get it! 

Only 75K?  What an <deleted>.  Just pay it and learn something.  His lawyer fees will be higher than that.

1 hour ago, JLCrab said:

However this case is in US federal Court in California which has rules and precedent on such matters.

What are those rules ?

We visited the new memorial pavilion at the caves on Boxing Day. Rather good, there is an impressive larger than life bronze statue of a rescue diver, with 13 wild boar piglets frisking around his feet. There is a large mural painting telling the story. The centre is a portrait of the man who died, which is as it should be. Just about every aspect of the operation is depicted, starting with the row of bicycles outside, every nation and contribution features, and some of the key players, Thai and foreign. It really is rather impressive.

 

No sign of Mr Musk or his submarine.

 

Purely a personal view, but I think that it is a great shame that this rescue, which brought together Thais and Foreigners in a combined co -operative effort to achieve what it did, displayed such bravery and dedication, and involved for one brave man the ultimate sacrifice should have ended up as the stage for such a law suite.

Both wrong!  in the end, it is cheap attention for Musk if it gets past the first hurdle the next would be to settle if he gets lucky and gets past the first hurdle, do it quickly because the pound is dropping.

24 minutes ago, HarryWho said:

Only 75K?  What an <deleted>.  Just pay it and learn something.  His lawyer fees will be higher than that.

No lawyer fees involved, they're representing him on a contingency basis. $75k is the minimum amount to pursue the case in Federal Court, but he's seeking this plus punitive damages, ie much more. 

3 hours ago, Katipo said:

I like Musk for the most part, but yeah, nah, the dude was totally in the wrong here, and deserves to be judged as such in a court of law. 

As a response to mr nobody who said on the direct in the middle of an interview on a News channel "he could stick the submarine where it hurts" kinda deserve it....... 

On 12/28/2018 at 5:58 AM, JLCrab said:

If the Musk defense team shows this video in court, the case might end right there.

 

 

Nonsense. There is a difference between telling someone what to do and telling someone what they are.

1 minute ago, lamyai3 said:

No lawyer fees involved, they're representing him on a contingency basis. $75k is the minimum amount to pursue the case in Federal Court, but he's seeking this plus punitive damages, ie much more. 

No lawyer fees involved as his mother may drive the case....

1 hour ago, neeray said:

I guess I am late age (at 70) but I did not consider the Musk comments as a "generalisation" of my character.

Musk stated that you (as a Westerner living in Thailand) only choose to live in Thailand to have sex with children .

  Musk also has never retracted that allegation