Tennessee Supreme Court Dismisses Developer’s Defamation Lawsuit Against Resident

Nashville, Tenn- The Tennessee Supreme Court has held that a defamation and false light suit filed by Bill Charles against Donna McQueen must be dismissed under the Tennessee Public Participation Act (“TPPA”). The litigation began in 2020 after Durham Farms, a planned community in Hendersonville, announced plans to add a “rental-only” unit section to the community. Residents of Durham Farms and surrounding communities were upset by this announcement, as well as earlier changes to the Durham Farms development plan. They tried to stop the proposal by petitioning local officials and posting comments on the internet. Several Durham Farms residents, including Donna McQueen, wrote negative Google reviews on the Nashville regional office webpage for Freehold Communities, the company that developed Durham Farms. McQueen’s review claimed that Bill Charles, the president of the Durhan Farms homeowners’ association and a consultant for Freehold, used misleading tactics to deceive Durham Farms homebuyers. Charles sued McQueen over the review, asserting claims for defamation and false light. McQueen filed a petition under the TPPA to dismiss Charles’s lawsuit. The TPPA, Tennessee’s version of an anti-SLAPP statute, allows the defendant in a lawsuit that is based on the defendant’s speech to petition for dismissal of the suit....