We were sued for protecting women
Donation protected
We were sued - for attempting to protect families from someone in the birth community who was behaving in ways that made many women feel unsafe. What we said about him was 100% true and based on our experiences. It was not defamation and can be proven as such, based on many things, including his own admissions under oath. We had good reason to be concerned and to try to warn others of the manipulation and multi-layered dishonesty.
In order to shut us up, he sued 30+ women for defamation - locally and internationally. Hawaii doesn't have an anti-slapp law, so there was no way to shut down this frivolous lawsuit - even though everyone involved knows that is exactly what it is. IN fact, this can also be called a Malicious Prosecution case. The legal situation he created to coerce the defendants into a settlement (He originally sued for over $165 MILLION) is an extremely expensive and drawn out process intended to keep us quiet. This is why we need your help.
Here is a video and blog post all about what has happened.
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So... Yeah, that happened.
It is ridiculous, but defamation lawsuits are more common than you think. Why don't you hear about them? Because the nature of a defamation lawsuit is precisely to SHUT YOU UP! And for 4 years, it has done exactly that. I was sued personally, and MaternityWise was also sued, along with over 30 other women - for millions of dollars - EACH. It kept us quiet, but we are pretty sick of that baloney at this point.
We got sued for defamation because we told the world about someone who lied and was using the name of MaternityWise to gain the trust of vulnerable women and then take advantage of that trust. Even WE were lied to and WE were taken advantage of. Then WE got sued for standing up to this person.
What seems like a lifetime ago, this lawsuit was designed to stop MaternityWise and all those others from speaking out about the behavior of a specific individual. The lawsuit was intended to shut up the collective voice of a community of women, who were sharing concerns over lies and other behaviors that felt unsafe. We sought to warn and protect each other. And for this, we were punished by being sued.
This is not a unique situation. This happens all the time. Defamation lawsuits effectively silence people who would otherwise be able to shine light on the wrong doings of those who would prefer to stay in the dark, so they can continue to benefit from unethical (even if it’s not illegal) behavior without being held accountable.
Well, it's time to open up about that. Here is a link to an article that was published early on in the history of this case, and while several things have changed, it gives you some background about the initial filing.
Organizer
Anne Wallen
Organizer
New York, NY