PA Supreme Court Holds Online Defamation Cases Can Be Brought Almost Anywhere In Pennsylvania

• Published date: 29 November 2021
• Subject Matter: Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Media, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment, IT and Internet, Trials & Appeals & Compensation, Libel & Defamation, Social Media
• Law Firm: Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP
• Author: Mr Jonathan B. Skowron

Confirming that a half-century-old case still applies in the internet age, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently held that a lawsuit for defamatory statements made online can be filed almost anywhere in the state. Fox v. Smith, Nos. 39 EAP 2019, 40 EAP 2019, 41 EAP 2019, 42 EAP 2019, 2021 Pa. LEXIS 3991 (Pa., Nov. 17, 2021).

BACKGROUND OF THE CASE

In Fox, an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of a town in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, sued her opponent for allegedly defamatory statements made during the 2017 election. Although many of the comments were made online, everyone seemed to agree that the statements originated from Delaware County and were primarily targeted at individuals in Delaware County. And yet, the plaintiff filed her lawsuit not in Delaware County, but in Philadelphia, allegedly due to the fact that one of the plaintiff's friends who had read the online statements resided there. The defendant objected, claiming venue was improper and that the suit should have been brought in Delaware County.

THE GENERAL RULES OF VENUE

In legal parlance, "venue" means the physical court where a lawsuit may actually be heard. This is related to, but distinct from, "jurisdiction," which means whether a court has authority over a person or case. So, for example, all courts in Pennsylvania have "jurisdiction" (or authority) over a Pennsylvania corporation; but that doesn't mean that the company may be sued in any Pennsylvania court for any lawsuit.

Venue in Pennsylvania is governed by Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 1006, which generally states that a lawsuit may be brought in any county where the defendant may be served, where the claim arose, or where the related transaction or occurrence took place. Basically, there has to be a link between the venue and the cause of action; defendants should not be haled into a court on the other side of the state for no good reason. Thus, a native of Pittsburgh who gets into a fender bender in Pittsburgh with another native of Pittsburgh could not usually be sued in Philadelphia because "venue" would be improper - even though the Philadelphia court may technically have "jurisdiction" over the Pittsburgher by virtue of him being a Pennsylvania citizen.

THE FOX DECISION

At issue in Fox was the question of where a cause of action for online defamation "arises" under Rule 1006. Under prior precedent from 1967 (Gaetano v. Sharon Herald Co., 231 A.2d 753 (Pa. 1967)), a cause of action for defamation "arises" in any...