Western Michigan University Football Supporter Suing Internet Commenters “BusterNemo91″ and “ChipDip2″ For Saying She Fucked The Coach On A Message Board
KALAMAZOO, MI — A major supporter of Western Michigan University is suing three online commenters, including a Hall of Fame high school football coach, claiming they damaged her reputation.
Bonnie A. Zeigler alleges in a lawsuit filed in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court that the commenters defamed her on the internet during conversations about WMU football coach P.J. Fleck.
Zeigler in recent years has been listed as a member of the Mike Gary Society, donors who contribute $10,000 or more to support WMU athletics. She is married to Aaron Zeigler, the president of Kalamazoo-based Zeigler Auto Group.
The three men named in the lawsuit are Dan Burgardt of Schoolcraft, Randolph T. Foster, a WMU alumnus who lives in Colorado, and Bruce L. Bendix, a member of the Michigan High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame.
Bendix is a Kalamazoo native who played football at Western Michigan University in the 1970s before going on to coach at Kalamazoo College and Comstock and Otsego high schools, among other places. In 1999, he moved to the east side of the state where he continued coaching at various high schools and he recently resigned as Hemlock High School’s head coach, MLive reported on Jan. 1.
Zeigler is seeking damages in excess of $25,000 against each defendant, as well as attorneys’ fees and costs, for alleged defamation and false light, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims that Bendix, Burgardt and Foster each posted “false and defamatory statements” about Zeigler on the sports website CSNbbs.com while using the online pseudonyms “MajorHoople,” “Chipdip2″ and “DesertBronco,” respectively.
The identifications of Bendix, Burgardt and Foster came after “diligent inquiry” that included seeking the defendants’ addresses, email addresses, IP addresses and other information from the website, according to the lawsuit.
Wait you can sue people for saying mean untrue things about you in internet comment sections? Hmmm interesting (jots that down in notebook). Got to say though I’m kind of morally opposed to this whole legal action against internet commenters thing though. I mean it’s one thing if we’re talking about like, death threats, threats of violence, kids names etc etc. Stuff like that where you genuinely feel unsafe for yourself or your family. But rumor spreading on a college football message board about you fucking the coach? Isn’t that the whole point of why those boards exist in the first place? For people to make fake Hushmail accounts and talk infinity shit and make up the craziest untrue rumors they can think of? Plus if you’re this lady, why even acknowledge it, let alone press charges for it? Just giving it credibility that most people with a brain knew it never had. As a matter of fact now I’m kind of convinced you banged the Western Michigan football coach simply because you’re so vehemently denying you banged the Western Michigan football coach. Wow, can’t believe you’d bang the Western Michigan football coach, you’re married for god’s sake.
(Just kidding don’t sue me. Getting us sued is KFC’s job).
Little more background about the lawsuit:
According to the lawsuit, the false rumor was first posted Sept. 13 by a commenter using the pseudonym “BusterNemo91″ on CSNbbs.com on a thread called “Fire Fleck.”
That original post was removed but then reposted just 26 minutes later by a user named “WheresWaldo42″ and “numerous other individuals,” sparking a discussion centered around the topic, the lawsuit says. The discussion continued for a month “and was referenced and republished in approximately 500 more posts.”
“Defendants even stated that these allegations are not rumors, but true facts,” according to the lawsuit. “As of December 23, 2014, the ‘Fire Fleck’ thread had been viewed 202,263 times. The ‘Fire Fleck’ thread on CSNbbs.com and its contents have also been shared and/or referenced on numerous other internet posting boards, including boards for Northern Illinois University and Michigan State University sports.”
Burgardt, who formerly covered WMU football for the sports website Rivals.com, told the Kalamazoo Gazette that the comments he posted were meant to be satire mocking two other commenters who said they believed the online rumors.
BusterNemo91 see you in court pal. You too WheresWaldo42 you rumor mongerer.
PS – How much did that hall of fame coach Bendix shit himself when they figured his name out. Probably thought he was airtight – always used Incognito window, had the IP blockers on, only used the public computer at the local library. Just goes to show, the internet will always come back to fuck you.