According to a report released by Former Republican congressional candidate Lou Ann Zelenik last week, an appeals court has upheld a judge’s decision dismissing the defamation lawsuit filed against her by the drug-testing company owned by U.S. Rep. Diane Black’s husband.
Zelenik said a March 2012 ruling by Davidson County Circuit Court Judge Joe Binkley was affirmed by the Tennessee Court of Appeals, dismissing a lawsuit filed in 2010 by Aegis Sciences against Zelenik and her campaign.
The lawsuit revolved around a Zelenik campaign ad that said Diane Black’s votes in the state Senate provided $1 million in state contracts to Aegis Sciences Corp., which is headed by Dr. David Black.
The judge in the initial ruling determined that Aegis was not defamed by the ad, and found that the “truth is an absolute defense,” as well as ruling that the advertisement was protected political speech.
“It’s a First Amendment victory for everybody running for office in the country,” Zelenik said.
The suit was filed against the “Lou Ann for Congress” campaign, Zelenik campaign manager Jay Heine and Bright Media two days before the 2010 election, alleging TV, radio and Internet ads placed by the campaign were defamatory toward Aegis.
Zelenik has opined that the company filed the suit at that time simply to win the election.
Aegis has 90 days to decide whether to take the matter to the Tennessee Supreme Court.
Black, who defeated Zelenik in the 2010 Republican primary and took the 6th Congressional District seat in a close race, is entering her second term in Congress after defeating Zelenik again in 2012.
When Aegis and Black refused to dismiss the lawsuit after the 2010 election, Zelenik filed a countersuit.
Bright Media settled its part of the case in 2011, saying that no advertisements placed by the company were intended to accuse Aegis of any illegal, unethical or improper behavior, and that it had no knowledge of any illegal, unethical or improper behavior by Aegis with respect to Aegis’ activities and contracts with the state of Tennessee, according to a statement from Aegis’ public relations firm.
Zelenik has said that she wasn’t the first campaign opponent of Black’s to mention the matter of Aegis’ state contracts, but emphasized that she was 15 points ahead of Black in the polls 10 days before the primary when Black hired a firm and spent more than $1 million to run a negative “push poll” against her.
Founded by DR. David Black in 1986 as Vanderbilt University’s sports anti-doping laboratory, Nashville-based Aegis Sciences Corp. is a forensic sciences company that provides toxicology services to more than 1,500 clients, including pain management physicians, professional sports leagues, colleges and universities, medical examiner offices, state and local government agencies, courts of law and Fortune 500 corporations throughout the United States.