Judge Concludes NBC’s Allegations of “Mass Hysterectomies” by Doctor at ICE Facility Were False, May Have Been Knowingly/Recklessly False
From Amin v. NBCUniversal Media, LLC, decided today by Judge Lisa Godbey Wood (S.D. Ga.):
NBC published multiple reports about allegations that Plaintiff, Dr. Mahendra Amin, performed mass hysterectomies on female detainees at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) facility in Georgia. NBC reported allegations that Dr. Amin performed hysterectomies that were unnecessary, unauthorized, or even botched. Dr. Amin then brought this case, asserting that NBC defamed him under Georgia law….
The controversy stemmed from allegations by “a former nurse at the facility named Dawn Wooten” (see the end of this post for more details on those allegations, but the excerpts below also incorporate some discussion of the Wooten claims). The letter led to a good deal of media coverage, including reports on NBC. (It also led, after the coverage, to a government investigation, which found evidence of various improprieties at the facility, but no evidence of mass hysterectomies performed by Amin.)
The judge granted summary judgment in favor of Amin as to the falsity of some of the statements that NBC had made:
Multiple statements are verifiably false. The undisputed evidence has established that: (1) there were no mass hysterectomies or high numbers of hysterectomies at the facility; (2) Dr. Amin performed only two hysterectomies on female detainees from the ICDC; and (3) Dr. Amin is not a “uterus collector.” The Court must look to each of the statements in the context of the entire broadcast or social media post to assess the construction placed upon it by the average viewer. Doing so, the undisputed evidence establishes that multiple NBC statements are false.
Viewed in their entirety, the September 15, 2020 episodes of Deadline: White House, All In With Chris Hayes, and The Rachel Maddow Show accuse Plaintiff of performing mass hysterectomies on detainee women. It does not matter that NBC did not make these accusations directly, but only republished the whistleblower letter’s allegations. If accusations against a plaintiff are “based entirely on hearsay,” “[t]he fact that the charges made were based upon hearsay in no manner relieves the defendant of liability. Charges based upon hearsay are the equivalent in law to direct charges.” NBC charged Plaintiff with performing high numbers of hysterectomies at the facility. NBC argues that the “gist” of these broadcasts was that Plaintiff was accused of conducting “unnecessary and unconsented-to medical procedures on detainees at ICDC, including large numbers of hysterectomies.” But the focus of these three broadcasts was not on unnecessary or unconsented-to “medical procedures.” The focus was on “mass hysterectomies” and “high numbers of hysterectomies,” performed without necessity and consent, at the facility. This is reinforced by MSNBC’s own headlines: “WHISTLEBLOWER: HIGH NUMBER OF HYSTERECTOMIES AT ICE DETENTION CTR.” and “COMPLAINT: MASS HYSTERECTOMIES PERFORMED ON WOMEN AT ICE FACILITY.” …
While opinions and hyperbole are typically non-actionable, they become actionable when they are capable of being proved false. Statements 5, 6, 9, 14, 15, 16, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, and 34 meet this requirement.
Statements that Plaintiff is a “uterus collector,” that people referred to him as a uterus collector, and that he was collecting the uteri of detained women “state or imply defamatory facts about the plaintiff that are capable of being proved false.” Further, statements that nearly everyone Plaintiff treated had a hysterectomy or that Plaintiff’s specialty was “taking everybody’s stuff out” state facts that can be proved false. These statements are not mere subjective assessments of Plaintiff over which reasonable minds could differ. They are also not simply rhetorical hyperbole or obviously exaggerated statements that are unprovable….
The undisputed evidence proves that Statements 5, 6, 14, 15, 16, 23, 25, 26, 27, and 28 are materially false. The extensive medical reports, witness testimony, and Senate Report prove that Plaintiff did not perform hysterectomies on every detainee patient or nearly every patient he treated. And no evidence exists to support the assertion that Plaintiff collected uteri or had a reputation as a “uterus collector.” The evidence shows that one detainee at the facility heard Plaintiff referred to as the “uterus collector,” but that this began after news outlets covered the whistleblower letter. Other detainee witnesses never heard him described as such at the facility.
These statements are materially false because they have a different effect on the mind of the viewer and are far more damaging to Plaintiff’s reputation than “that which the truth would have produced.” …
The court also concluded that other statements could be false, so the matter was for the jury, while other statements were true or opinion; see the opinion for more—since the opinion is 108 pages long, I’ve had to offer just an excerpt.
The court went on to say that, under Georgia law, plaintiff had to prove by clear and convincing evidence that these statements were said with “actual malice”—knowing or reckless falsehood—but that there was enough evidence introduced to allow the question to go to the jur
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