‘Tis the season of giving and as the Bernie Fine Ferris Wheel of Insanity continues to spin, giving might be the solution that ends it all. Yesterday, Bobby Davis and Mike Lang filed a defamation lawsuit against Jim Boeheim and Syracuse University for Boeheim‚Äôs initial comments regarding the two accusers. Ironically, those comments said Davis and Lang were in it for the money (and now they would like to collect).
The Fizz said at the time Boeheim’s comments went too far. Add in celebrity attorney Gloria Allred and apparently they went far enough for a lawsuit. So do Davis and Lang just want to cash in? Will this case get ugly? Looking to the the holiday spirit might just be the solution.
The outcome of the case depends on whether Boeheim acted intentionally or wrecklessly. Friend of The Fizz John Brennan (a lawyer, unlike me) of Orange44 explains how the case works:
“Defamation is a civil cause of action for damage caused by untrue statements being published. The suit basically alleges Boeheim went to the press with false information about Davis & Lang – by calling them liars and saying they came forward for money – and that they have suffered damages as a result. The legal questions here will be: did Boeheim act intentionally or recklessly in making the assertions about the truthfulness & motivations of Davis & Lang? Did Davis & Lang actually suffer damage? Was that damage caused by Boeheim’s assertions?”
Based on that, there are two possible outcomes. First, Boeheim and the university settle out of court Рwhich can happen at any time Рand all of this goes away. The alternative is this goes through the courts and any evidence of abuse, Boeheim’s potential knowledge, or anything that could harm the public image of Lang or Davis becomes public. In other words, it gets more sordid. Allred makes this worse because she also fights her cases through the media. It all comes out.
If it goes to court, it might be hard to prove Boeheim was intentionally defaming Davis/Lang in his statements. At the time JB called the accusations “a bunch of a thousand lies” there had been three investigations (SU, P-S, ESPN) that had come up empty. Boeheim was defending a longtime friend who had been with him from the start, by his side for every bit of success over a Hall of Fame career. 
The irony of course is that Davis and Lang are looking for money over accusations they were looking for money. The public is likely to sway against the accusers as their attention shifts away from Fine and onto Boeheim. The specter of this lawsuit may have prompted the JB to issue his apology following the Florida game. But it also came off as genuine, and curried favorable public opinion for him. With all that said, he should still pay up. And so should Bobby Davis and Mike Lang.
The Fizz’s solution: Find an amount of money they can both agree on and donate it to the McMahon-Ryan Center. Dragging this through the courts is ugly for everyone. Boeheim has spoken highly of his conversations with those at the MRC. Have the money go towards helping fight child sex abuse. It can actually do some good, instead of creating more hurt for a community dragged through the mud nationally.
Boeheim gets to give even more towards a charitable cause. Davis and Lang can argue they are not looking to get rich off this. Perhaps, the money can even go to a Bobby Davis scholarship fund which provides a chance for victims of abuse to go to college when they get older. Then Davis’s story, which he wanted heard so badly for so long, has a voice every time a student accepts the scholarship fund. 
Unfortunately, this is highly unlikely. Allred is not working pro bono. Davis and Lang will probably want their cut of the money. Boeheim is notoriously stubborn and if he doesn’t believe he’s guilty, the chances he agrees to a compromise might be slim. In the meantime the Bernie Fine Ferris Wheel of Insanity just goes and goes. Where it stops? Nobody knows.
Posted: Craig Hoffman
Photo: Reuters/Eduardo Munoz
15 responses to “Davis/Lang vs. SU/Boeheim: The Fizz’s Solution to the Defamation Lawsuit”
It sure sounds like a warm ‘n fuzzy solution. And, it would certainly be the quickest and least painful resolution for SU and Boeheim. There are problems though. As indicated in the article Allred, Davis and Lang (regardless of the original intentions) are seeking personal monetary compensation, not a charitable cause. Also, the settlement and the “Bobby Davis College Fund” would be based on the premise that the original accusations against Fine are true, which is obviously still in question. I do believe this will be settled out of court because, right or wrong, it is in the best interest of JB and the University to close this issue quickly. This is very unfortunate though because it is not a just resolution (just as in justice). Boeheim’s comments were made without any intent to directly harm the accusers. He was defending a friend based on the results of previous accusations and investigations. But, the S#!t storm that Allred would create is simply too great a risk for SU to chance. What a horrible lesson this is teaching. Make public accusations against high-profile people and, right or wrong, you’ll be paid-off in the end.
We have the first amendment in this country which protects a lot of free speech, doesn’t protect against defamation, but we believe in the idea that people can speak and most of the time speak their mind unless they’re defamation. We also have the issue of whether or not people are public figures and if they do they receive less protection under the law. It’d be interesting and difficult to figure out how they were damaged by what Boeheim said, what kind of damages they would be entitled to. And we can never forget that Boeheim, a couple days later after he had more information apologized for what he said. So I just don’t think this is much of a lawsuit that’s going to go very far.
cap2nine – agreed on nearly all of what you’re saying. I think the “Fine is guilty” isn’t JB’s problem. If Davis says “let’s settle and create a fund in name” and the price is right, does Boeheim care about Fine anymore? Doubt it. Allred scares the hell out of me. Read some things that Davis/Lang have NOOO idea what they’re getting themselves into.
SA – Lot of people (including me) and even experts agree with you that this doesn’t get far. Yes JB’s quotes hurt Davis and Lang and probably changed a lot of opinions on those two men, but were the comments reckless or intentionally malicious? Probably not. That’s why I like this solution though. Chance for all parties to go “this isn’t about money, it’s about the good we can do.” Imagine Davis/Lang and Boeheim standing in front of one of those huge checks made out to the McMahon-Ryan Center for $500,000 or $1 million…together. What a powerful statement. Too bad there’s next to no chance it happens.
the fizz is delusional
then being out for money is fine its the american way. Work as little as possible and make as much money as possible.
the lawyer doesn’t scare me as most of her cases are dropped and that is dropped not settled out of court.
she is very good at the media thing but you notice what is missing just 24 hours after the announcement? her on television.
being blind to reality and talking about donating to charity is crazy. 99% of people wouldn’t donate money to charity if they were given a chunk of money so davis/lang don’t have to either.
How honorable of you. The best damn thing is to fight the lawsuit if you truly believe your are right. Don’t give in!
no the best avenue is to settle the lawsuit with the least possible damage to yourself.
It’s a great idea, but yes, it is totally unrealistic. I think Boeheim would go along with such a proposal, but Allred’s clothes, makeup and various plastic surgeries weren’t free, so you can bet Glo isn’t signing up for that deal. Whatever Allred is known for has nothing to do with any particular prowess in the courtroom. Rather, she is known for essentially being a vulture. Swooping in on situations like this, providing a Hollywood style performance at the press conference, and then doesn’t argue a single motion or try the case. The bottom line, as I’ve said repeatedly, is that legally speaking, this case has little merit. The real concern is the one you’ve seized on: the PR hit to SU and JB. We have recruits like Whitehead seeing this stuff going on, and you have to wonder what they are thinking. Coach Hop and Red have their work cut out for them there. The last thing any of us (or JB or SU) want to see is this charade impact the SU hoops program. However, the longer it goes on, the greater the chance that some potential recruit, be it Isiah Whitehead or Nerlens Noel, says no thank you to SU because of this situation. Remember that Fab was headed to Louisville until Pitino earned the nickname 15 Second Rick. That scandal, and Pitino’s son’s resignation, led to Fab backing off of Louisville.
The best thing for SU would be for this story to disappear quickly. However, I doubt JB wants to give in and pay these guys, but I won’t be surprised if SU does try to settle with most of the payout going to McMahon-Ryan or some similar charity. I suspect that Glo and company will refuse such entreaties and then will either get crushed in the courtroom or quietly drop the case in the near future after getting a Motion to Dismiss filled with New York and Federal cases establishing that their suit does not establish that JB made the statements with knowledge of their falsity or with reckless disregard for their truth, and furthermore, they will not be able to provide a shred of evidence that they were made with malice aforethought. I don’t think Allred wants to pay sanctions, and I’m sure this case will be aggressively defended, especially in light of what happened yesterday. Interestingly, none of the national media types I follow on twitter mentioned a word about the presser. ESPN is still expending a lot of energy on this story, but much of that appears to be CYA and self justification at this point.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!!!
Defamation is one of the toughest things to prove in court. If i was JB i’d fight it.
just trying to help make kcc betetrI did not read most of that drivel . but I get the idea anyway..I only resemble harley when I am copying his style trying to show him how it llooks to rant is all caps . and it has helped him, take notice foilks there is mnore here than meets the eye.I am not simply ranting I am trying to do some good . esp with idiot boy raidrage glazer..that fkn worthless drunkardNo I had no issues with glazer until he started blathersing hsi bullshit here on KCC. It was one thing when it was only in comments, it is anothernow that he makes makes threads only to balther on and on and on and on about his drivel. I just call it like I see it and he is a blow hard asshole. If he wrote informative interesting posts then I would not spend so much time making fun of what an idiot he is.Combining his child like brain with too much booze . add in all the coke/meth he does and then he shoot up some steroid?? and viola you have this roid rage insans person it is easy to spot. ANYWAY .when he starts going crazy in public and hitting people the evidence is here that it was premediatated and it shows that he has some anger control/management issues .. so now, we are just waiting for the fireworks to go off.
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