Federal judge throws out most of a defamation lawsuit, including a racketeering claim

A federal judge on Monday threw out most of Holly J. Sheldon-Lee's lawsuit against a man and a woman she says defamed her, including a claim under the racketeering law written to go after organized crime.

U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Gleason dismissed four of the lawsuit's five counts: invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy and civil racketeering. Sheldon-Lee's defamation claim remains, and she can try to refile the others.

The problem, Gleason wrote in her order, was that each dismissed count was a single sentence that didn't tie the facts in the complaint to that count. The privacy count, for instance, didn't say what private information each defendant disclosed.

The complaint "consistently lumps both Defendants together, which is insufficient to state a claim against either Defendant," she wrote.

The fight runs both ways. The two defendants countersued, and in May, Gleason threw out five of their eight counterclaims as too vague or conclusory.

Sheldon-Lee had also asked the judge to rule in her favor without a trial. That request rested mainly on what are called deemed admissions, statements treated as admitted because they weren't answered in time. Gleason denied it. In the same order, she set aside the man's deemed admissions, which Sheldon-Lee hadn't objected to.

The man also faces a state criminal case on stalking charges. The defendants asked Gleason to pause the federal lawsuit while that case is pending. She refused for now, writing that "it is not at all clear who are the alleged victims" in the stalking case. Unless Sheldon-Lee is part of that case, she wrote, she isn't persuaded a pause is warranted. She left room for the defendants to ask again.

Sheldon-Lee has until Dec. 9 to file a revised complaint that fixes the problems or a notice ending the case. If she does neither, the whole case will be dismissed.