THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 28, 1996 TAG: 9602280362
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
Paul C. Gillis, state president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, filed a libel lawsuit Tuesday over a column published last year in the Suffolk Sun, a community news supplement for Suffolk readers of The Virginian-Pilot.
The lawsuit in Suffolk Circuit Court seeks $1 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages from Landmark Communications Inc., owner of The Virginian-Pilot, and Sun editor John Pruitt.
Gillis claims that a column by Pruitt published April 23, 1995, under the headline ``No Good Gained From These Tantrums'' was false, malicious and defamatory. He claims the column hurt his reputation in the community and caused him financial loss.
In the column, Pruitt criticized Gillis for remarks at a City Council meeting in which the Suffolk Electoral Board presented a plan to move a polling place. Gillis reportedly criticized the plan and called an election official ``an Aunt Jemima.''
Pruitt called this ``a low blow'' and suggested that Gillis should re-examine his ``racist attitude'' and stop making ``threats and accusations.''
He called on Gillis to ``acknowledge this uncalled-for meanness'' and called on the NAACP to reassess Gillis' leadership position.
Generally, libel law protects individuals who make statements of opinion, rather than fact.
But Gillis' attorney, Stephen C. Swain, said, ``I think it's an assertion of fact rather than opinion. We think the guy was libeled because he was called a racist.''
An attorney for Landmark declined to comment, saying the company has not yet received the lawsuit from court.
KEYWORDS: LAWSUITS DEFAMATION OF CHARACTER by CNB