As a condition of the settlement Muchnick was forced to remove several inflammatory and accusatory stories concerning the plaintiff.
Below is the consent order that was published on the Court's website Friday, July 12. My only question is, why did he settle if he believes what he wrote is true? Why didn't he show some balls and fight the accusations. As reiterated in the previous post, there was little chance of the plaintiffs recovering any money from failed writer Muchnick. By forcing him to remove the blogs, they are in essence receiving an admission of wrongdoing.
And what an amazing coincidence that news of the settlement of his defamation suit was buried on his blog and NOT ONE MENTION ON HIS TWITTER ACCOUNT. Funny how everything else in his miserable life is put out on tweets, which are then linked to his blog. Funny, indeed.
CONSENT ORDER
Minor Plaintiff, John Doe, through his parents, James and Jane Doe (collectively referred
to as “Plaintiff”), and his counsel, Anne T. McKenna and Andrew C. White, filed the abovecaptioned
lawsuit against Defendants, Irvin Muchnick and Concussion, Inc. (“Defendants”).
Plaintiff brought this action against Defendants as a result of blog and Internet posts made by
Defendants concerning an alleged incident during a North Baltimore Aquatic Club practice that
was held at Meadowbrook Swim Club in Baltimore City, Maryland, in February 2012
(hereinafter referred to as “the alleged February 2012 NBAC incident”).
Plaintiff’s Complaint asserts the following claims against Defendants: defamation,
invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, constructive fraud, and violation
of 47 U.S.C.A. § 231; simultaneously with the filing of the Complaint, Plaintiff also moved for a
temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. On May 13, 2013, Judge Richard
Bennett of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland heard oral argument on Plaintiff’s
Motion for Temporary Restraining Order, and on May 14, 2013, Judge Bennett entered an Order
which, by agreement of the parties, has remained in effect until today’s date. Subsequent to the
May 13, 2013 hearing, Defendants retained counsel, Mark I. Bailen and Laurie A. Babinski, and
the law firm of BakerHostetler.
By agreement of the parties and the Court, a hearing date of June 25, 2013 was set on
Plaintiff’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction. Prior to that hearing, however, the parties agreed
to resolve this matter pursuant to entry of this Consent Order and the terms contained herein.
Accordingly, the following IS HEREBY ORDERED, this ____ day of July 2013:
1. This Order and all its terms shall apply to Irvin Muchnick, Tim Joyce and any
other individual associated with Concussioninc.net or any individual working on behalf of or at
the direction of Irvin Muchnick; and for purposes of this Order, the terms “Defendants” shall
encompass all such persons;
2. Defendants shall not publish in any format, whether written, spoken, or posted
online, the following:
a) Any and all references to the real name of the minor Plaintiff, John Doe, in
any correlation whatsoever with the alleged February 2012 NBAC
incident that underlies the allegations in the above-captioned case;
b) Any and all references that discuss the details of any investigation by any
Maryland government agencies or Maryland police departments of the
alleged February 2012 NBAC incident, though references to the fact that
the alleged February 2012 NBAC incident was reported to any Maryland
government agencies or Maryland police departments and the disposition
thereof are permissible;
c) any and all references to which information or records relating to the
Minor Plaintiff John Doe may be in the possession of any Maryland
government agencies or Maryland police departments involved in
investigating the alleged February 2012 NBAC incident;
d) Any and all references that would identify by real name the minor, John
Doe, as Plaintiff in the above-captioned matter;
e) Any discussions of the alleged February 2012 NBAC incident that refer to
the matter as a “sexual assault” or otherwise state that:
Any criminal activity occurred;
Plaintiff’s conduct or any other minor’s conduct was in any way
criminal;
Plaintiff’s conduct was in any way tortious;
3. In no way does this Order restrict or preclude Defendants from publishing any
other matters in connection with NBAC, USA Swimming, or other such matters that do not
pertain to the alleged February 2012 NBAC incident, or that do pertain to the alleged February
2012 NBAC incident but otherwise comply with the terms of this Consent Order;
4. Within ten (10) days of entry of this Consent Order, Plaintiff shall file a Voluntary
Stipulation of Dismissal without Prejudice. This filing shall in no way preclude Plaintiff’s rights
to refile this matter or bring an additional cause of action in the event Plaintiff believes that the
terms of this Order are being or have been violated;
5. The parties agree that Defendants are permitted to publish the following
statements regarding the above-captioned matter:
Plaintiff brought this action against Defendants as a result of blog and Internet posts
made by Defendants concerning an alleged incident during North Baltimore Aquatic
Club practice that was held at Meadowbrook Swim Club in Baltimore City, Maryland, in
February 2012.
Plaintiff sought the issuance of a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction,
and filed a complaint asserting the following claims against Defendants: defamation,
invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, constructive fraud, and
violation of 47 U.S.C.A. § 231.
On May 13, 2013, Judge Richard Bennett of the U.S. District Court for Maryland heard
oral argument on Plaintiff’s Motion for Temporary Restraining Order; with the Court’s
permission Defendant Muchnick appeared pro se via teleconference. During the course
of that hearing, Defendant Muchnick argued that the blog posts were speech protected by
the First Amendment, but agreed to remove any and all references to the names of minors
involved in the alleged February 2012 incident and all references suggesting that he had
access to information or records in the possession of Maryland government agencies that
were involved in investigating the alleged incident pending hearing on Plaintiff’s Motion
for Preliminary Injunction.
On May 14, 2013, Judge Bennett entered an Order wherein he denied in part Plaintiff’s
Request for a Temporary Restraining Order but specifically reserved all matters raised in
Plaintiff’s Motion for Temporary Restraining Order for the full hearing on the Plaintiff’s
Motion for Preliminary Injunction. The Order further ordered the removal of the
references described above as Defendant Muchnick had agreed pending the hearing on
Plaintiff’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction. Subsequent to May 13, 2013, hearing,
Defendants retained counsel, Mark I. Bailen and Laurie A. Babinski, and the law firm of
BakerHostetler.
By agreement of the parties and the Court, a June 25, 2013 hearing date was set on
Plaintiff’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction. By agreement of the parties and with the
Court’s consent, the preliminary injunction hearing was continued while the parties
attempted to reach settlement of Plaintiff’s claims. Prior to a preliminary injunction
hearing being held, the parties mutually agreed to resolve this matter by entry of a
Consent Order.
6. Defendants are permitted to post unsealed public records of the above-captioned
proceedings and Orders of this Court, provided they do so in a manner consistent with the terms
of this Consent Order. However, Defendants may not post misrepresentative excerpts of the
pleadings in this case. If Defendants publish excerpts, such publication should be accompanied
by a link to the entire document.
7. Defendants will remove all publications, including Internet posts and social media platforms, and all content that are inconsistent with the terms of this Order.
7. Defendants will remove all publications, including Internet posts and social media platforms, and all content that are inconsistent with the terms of this Order.
In our humble opinion, this will not be the last time Muchnick lands in court.
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