A federal judge in Kentucky ruled on Thursday that a $275 million lawsuit from Covington Catholic student Nicholas Sandmann against NBCUniversal can proceed in court, the third lawsuit from Sandmann that the judge has allowed to proceed.
“U.S. District Court Judge William Bertelsman dismissed parts of the lawsuit while allowing discovery on allegations that the network’s coverage defamed the teen by reporting that he ‘blocked’ Native American elder Nathan Phillips in a Jan. 18 encounter at the Lincoln Memorial,” The Washington Times reported.
“[T]he court finds that the statements that plaintiff ‘blocked’ Phillips or did not allow him to retreat, if false, meet the test of being libelous per se under the definition quoted above,” said Judge Bertelsman in his order.
Sandmann attorney Lin Wood wrote on Twitter: “As predicted, today Judge Bertelsman entered an order allowing the Nicholas Sandmann case against NBCUniversal to proceed to discovery just as he had earlier ruled with respect to WaPo & CNN cases. Huge, huge win!” – READ MORE