Bath man wins appeal in defamation case

BATH – A Bath man this week won an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston that allows him to continue with a defamation lawsuit against Radio Shack.

The appeals court determined that the U.S. District Court in Portland erred when it dismissed a defamation claim against Radio Shack by John Garrett, 41.

The appeals court, however, upheld the lower court’s ruling that Radio Shack did not violate federal racial discrimination laws in its treatment of Garrett, who is black.

The case stems from December 1998 when Garrett bought a book, a telephone and batteries at the Radio Shack at the Cook’s Corner shopping mall in Brunswick. Shortly after Garrett left the store, the store’s manager discovered a missing laptop computer valued at $2,000.

The manager notified Brunswick police and identified Garrett as a potential suspect. Officers from the Bath Police Department searched Garrett’s home and car with Garrett’s permission, but did not find the computer.

Garrett subsequently filed a federal lawsuit that was dismissed by Judge D. Brock Hornby, who found no evidence of racial discrimination or defamation. The appeals court overturned the ruling on the defamation charge.

Jeffrey Young, a civil rights lawyer in Topsham, said the decision would allow his client to sue Tandy Corp., doing business as Radio Shack, for defamation.

“Tuesday’s appellate court decision is an important, albeit only partial, victory against racial profiling,” Young said. “The decision makes clear that under certain circumstances, racial profiling can be defamatory and provides citizens with a right of recovery.”

Radio Shack’s attorney, Melinda Caterine of Portland, said Radio Shack denies it discriminated against or defamed Garrett.

“The company believes that it will ultimately prevail,” Caterine said. “The majority decision by the appellate court did not discuss the issue of racial profiling and in fact upheld the dismissal of Mr. Garrett’s discrimination claims. Mr. Garrett’s defamation claim is not based upon his race.”

Garrett, who was never charged with a crime, still feels as though he was singled out because of his race.

“This is a small community and once you get accused of something like that, it doesn’t go away,” Garrett said. “I still feel very bad whenever I walk into a store at Cook’s Corner.”