I am a LAWYER!

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Professional Baseball Manager/Genius Tony LaRussa, Esquire, does not care for your tasteless satire... and he will take his lack of care all the way to the Supreme Court of not-caring, if need be.

(Yes, a good deal of the "humor" mentioned in the complaint is tasteless... and, perhaps worse, not so funny. But is a lawsuit necessary... or even justifiable?)

]ST. LOUIS (AP) � St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is suing the social-networking site Twitter, claiming an unauthorized page using his name damaged his reputation and caused emotional distress. The suit filed last month in the Superior Court of California in San Francisco seeks unspecified damages. Messages left Thursday with La Russa's attorney and San Francisco-based Twitter were not returned. The lawsuit claims that someone created a false account under La Russa's name and posted updates, known as "tweets," that gave the false impression that the comments came from La Russa. The suit said the comments were "derogatory and demeaning" and damaged La Russa's trademark rights. The account bearing La Russa's name is no longer active. La Russa's lawsuit said the page bearing his name was hurtful to the 64-year-old manager, who has led the Cardinals since 1996 and also managed the Chicago White Sox and Oakland A's during a 30-year managerial career. The lawsuit includes a screenshot of tweets with the heading "Hey there! Tony La Russa is using Twitter," with a picture of the manager. Among other things, the lawsuit claims the page includes distasteful references to two Cardinals pitchers who have died in recent years. The same page includes an aside that reads, "Bio Parodies are fun for everyone." Some professional athletes and others connected to pro sports have embraced Twitter. Shaquille O'Neal posted a message on his Twitter.com site saying he was pulling for former teammate Kobe Bryant to win a fourth championship as the Lakers entered the NBA finals against Orlando. "I am saying it today and today only," O'Neal tweeted. "I want kobe bryant to get number four, spread da word." Buffalo Bills receiver Terrell Owens posted a message on his Twitter site Tuesday that his search for a home to rent hit a snag because residents "(don't) want any drama n their neighborhood!! LOL!!! Wow!!."

And the actual complaint (PDF format):

http://www.citmedialaw.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-05-06-La%20Russa%20Complaint.pdf

[Fman99]

LaRussa is an arse.

[metirish]

Owens is with the Bills?...

[nymr83]

i dont think all these social networking sites should be held responsible to determine the true identities of their users, if the fake-larussa really damaged his reputation then thats who should get sued.

[metirish]

It was probably one of the guys he had hit behind the pitcher trying to get back at LaRussa.

[bmfc1]

Does Fake Tony LaRussa ignore the use of steroids in his clubhouse?

[stevejrogers]

="metirish":cv0ajple]Owens is with the Bills?...[/quote:cv0ajple] Yup Signed this offseason.

holychicken Jun 04 2009 02:20 PM

="Nymr83":2vgasgn8]i dont think all these social networking sites should be held responsible to determine the true identities of their users, if the fake-larussa really damaged his reputation then thats who should get sued.[/quote:2vgasgn8] This. Gwreck Jun 04 2009 02:36 PM I think he'll have a tough time succeeding but I think there's some merit to the claim. I think it probably would have sufficed to have his lawyers serve an immediate cease-and-desist letter upon Twitter to have the fake page removed. (Granted, if that didn't work I think his case would be very strong). themetfairy Jun 04 2009 03:36 PM Twitter does have a policy against impersonation[/url:3bywtb23], which should cover them (provided, as Gwreck said, they were responsive to LaRussa's demand that the faux account be removed). Zvon Jun 04 2009 03:54 PM If his image was used along with the use of the name, I can see him being justified in wanting to take action. Looks like he's taking aim at the wrong culprit though, as mentioned above. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jun 04 2009 04:08 PM ="Nymr83"]i dont think all these social networking sites should be held responsible to determine the true identities of their users, if the fake-larussa really damaged his reputation then thats who should get sued. They're named as anonymous codefendants until they can be positively identified ("DOES 1-25" in the complaint). Not sure that'll happen, though, as the account is no longer active, and the page has been deleted, just before the complaint was served. (Plus, a posted sign on the page-- when it did exist-- pretty clearly marked the page as "Parody," even if the URL/account name didn't.) Rotblatt Jun 04 2009 04:57 PM ]i dont think all these social networking sites should be held responsible to determine the true identities of their users, if the fake-larussa really damaged his reputation then thats who should get sued. Exactly. But I don't blame LaRussa for being annoyed by it. MFS62 Jun 04 2009 05:34 PM I don't think there is any organization in the world than can further damage LaRussa's reputation. Later RealityChuck Jun 04 2009 06:04 PM The "Parody" label pretty much trumps LaRussa's feelings, assuming it was clearly displayed. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jun 07 2009 10:01 PM An update, of sorts... and a re-update? http://deadspin.com/5281505/alls-well-that-ends-well-with-tonylarussa-update Depending on who you believe, there's been a settlement, with LaSenseofhumor's animal-rescue foundation benefiting... or there's been nothing of the sort. So there.

[Guest holychicken]

="Nymr83":2vgasgn8]i dont think all these social networking sites should be held responsible to determine the true identities of their users, if the fake-larussa really damaged his reputation then thats who should get sued.[/quote:2vgasgn8] This.

Gwreck Jun 04 2009 02:36 PM

I think he'll have a tough time succeeding but I think there's some merit to the claim. I think it probably would have sufficed to have his lawyers serve an immediate cease-and-desist letter upon Twitter to have the fake page removed. (Granted, if that didn't work I think his case would be very strong).

themetfairy Jun 04 2009 03:36 PM

Twitter does have a policy against impersonation[/url:3bywtb23], which should cover them (provided, as Gwreck said, they were responsive to LaRussa's demand that the faux account be removed).

Zvon Jun 04 2009 03:54 PM

If his image was used along with the use of the name, I can see him being justified in wanting to take action. Looks like he's taking aim at the wrong culprit though, as mentioned above.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jun 04 2009 04:08 PM

="Nymr83"]i dont think all these social networking sites should be held responsible to determine the true identities of their users, if the fake-larussa really damaged his reputation then thats who should get sued. They're named as anonymous codefendants until they can be positively identified ("DOES 1-25" in the complaint). Not sure that'll happen, though, as the account is no longer active, and the page has been deleted, just before the complaint was served. (Plus, a posted sign on the page-- when it did exist-- pretty clearly marked the page as "Parody," even if the URL/account name didn't.)

Rotblatt Jun 04 2009 04:57 PM

]i dont think all these social networking sites should be held responsible to determine the true identities of their users, if the fake-larussa really damaged his reputation then thats who should get sued. Exactly. But I don't blame LaRussa for being annoyed by it.

MFS62 Jun 04 2009 05:34 PM

I don't think there is any organization in the world than can further damage LaRussa's reputation. Later

RealityChuck Jun 04 2009 06:04 PM

The "Parody" label pretty much trumps LaRussa's feelings, assuming it was clearly displayed.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jun 07 2009 10:01 PM

An update, of sorts... and a re-update? http://deadspin.com/5281505/alls-well-that-ends-well-with-tonylarussa-update Depending on who you believe, there's been a settlement, with LaSenseofhumor's animal-rescue foundation benefiting... or there's been nothing of the sort. So there.

[Gwreck]

I think he'll have a tough time succeeding but I think there's some merit to the claim.

I think it probably would have sufficed to have his lawyers serve an immediate cease-and-desist letter upon Twitter to have the fake page removed.

(Granted, if that didn't work I think his case would be very strong).

[Guest themetfairy]

Twitter does have a policy against impersonation[/url:3bywtb23], which should cover them (provided, as Gwreck said, they were responsive to LaRussa's demand that the faux account be removed).

[Zvon]

If his image was used along with the use of the name, I can see him being justified in wanting to take action. Looks like he's taking aim at the wrong culprit though, as mentioned above.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

="Nymr83"]i dont think all these social networking sites should be held responsible to determine the true identities of their users, if the fake-larussa really damaged his reputation then thats who should get sued.

They're named as anonymous codefendants until they can be positively identified ("DOES 1-25" in the complaint).

Not sure that'll happen, though, as the account is no longer active, and the page has been deleted, just before the complaint was served. (Plus, a posted sign on the page-- when it did exist-- pretty clearly marked the page as "Parody," even if the URL/account name didn't.)

[Guest Rotblatt]

]i dont think all these social networking sites should be held responsible to determine the true identities of their users, if the fake-larussa really damaged his reputation then thats who should get sued.

Exactly. But I don't blame LaRussa for being annoyed by it.

[MFS62]

I don't think there is any organization in the world than can further damage LaRussa's reputation.

Later

[RealityChuck]

The "Parody" label pretty much trumps LaRussa's feelings, assuming it was clearly displayed.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

An update, of sorts... and a re-update?

http://deadspin.com/5281505/alls-well-that-ends-well-with-tonylarussa-update

Depending on who you believe, there's been a settlement, with LaSenseofhumor's animal-rescue foundation benefiting... or there's been nothing of the sort. So there.