SLAPP Happy

On Feb. 23, real estate development company Veranda Partners LLC delivered a stern warning to Orange County Sheriff's Deputy and MetroWest resident Larry Giles: Take down his two-week-old website, www.verandaparknews.com, by 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 24, or Veranda Partners would sue.

"Your website is a campaign designed to disparage and injure `Veranda Park's` reputation and goodwill and is intended to interfere with VP's contractual relationships with its customers and potential customers," reads the letter, which was signed by attorney Henry Cooper of the Bogin, Munns & Munns law firm. "Your website has tarnished VP's goodwill and reputation by subjecting VP to distrust, ridicule, contempt and disgrace."

The company, which is developing a mixed-use town center in MetroWest, didn't seek a correction or demand that he take down the parts of the site it found offensive, which is common practice in disputes over libel or slander. It demanded he take down the entire site. Giles didn't think he was doing anything wrong, but he took the site down as asked.

Veranda Partners sued him anyway.