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Associated Press
DETROIT - Former Detroit Tiger Cecil Fielder has sued the Detroit Newspaper Agencyand a Detroit News reporter over articles reporting that the slugger lost about $47million in gambling and bad business decisions.The libel suit filed Nov. 23 in Wayne County Circuit Court accuses the DetroitNewspaper Agency and reporter Fred Girard of defaming and slandering the three-timeAll Star by reporting that he was "in hiding," "not in contact with his family,"not supporting his daughter financially, and had an "unstoppable gamblingcompulsion," according to the suit.The agency runs the paper's business and production operations. The paper is owned byGannett Co.The suit demands $25 million in damages and fees. Lawyers for Fielder said they askedfor a retraction but never got it."His name is now associated in the public with family abandonment and compulsivegambling," said Fielder lawyer Steve Weiss.Mark Silverman, publisher and editor of The Detroit News, declined to commentWednesday. Girard referred questions to Ann Arbor lawyer James E. Stewart, who didnot immediately return a message left at his office.The suit also names Al Arostegui, a real estate agent in Coconut Grove, Fla., whosold Fielder a home in 1995 and told the newspaper that "gambling caused CecilFielder's empire to collapse," one of the phrases the suit specifically cites asdefamatory.Arostegui declined to comment on the suit, saying he had not been served with it orseen it.The News on Oct. 17 ran a story by Girard headlined "Gambling shatters ex-Tiger'sdream life." Using court documents from Fielder's divorce case and a suit broughtagainst him by Trump Plaza Hotel and Casinos in New Jersey, as well as interviewswith family members and associates, the story describes credit accounts at casinosand debts to credit card companies and several banks. It also depicts difficultieswithin the Fielder family, and describes how the Florida mansion he owned now sitsempty.Fielder's lawyers said the stories exaggerated the gambling and reported incorrectinformation.In a follow-up story Oct. 21, Fielder told the News he planned to repay his debts,saying: "I'm going to be a man about it. I'm going to take care of all myresponsibilities."The stories also ran in USA Today.Fielder, who stopped playing in 1998, led the American League with 51 home runs and132 RBIs for Detroit in 1990. During a four-year span with the Tigers he totaled 160homers and 506 RBIs.
http://www.blogator.com/go.php?i=766299
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Associated Press
DETROIT - Former Detroit Tiger Cecil Fielder has sued the Detroit Newspaper Agencyand a Detroit News reporter over articles reporting that the slugger lost about $47million in gambling and bad business decisions.The libel suit filed Nov. 23 in Wayne County Circuit Court accuses the DetroitNewspaper Agency and reporter Fred Girard of defaming and slandering the three-timeAll Star by reporting that he was "in hiding," "not in contact with his family,"not supporting his daughter financially, and had an "unstoppable gamblingcompulsion," according to the suit.The agency runs the paper's business and production operations. The paper is owned byGannett Co.The suit demands $25 million in damages and fees. Lawyers for Fielder said they askedfor a retraction but never got it."His name is now associated in the public with family abandonment and compulsivegambling," said Fielder lawyer Steve Weiss.Mark Silverman, publisher and editor of The Detroit News, declined to commentWednesday. Girard referred questions to Ann Arbor lawyer James E. Stewart, who didnot immediately return a message left at his office.The suit also names Al Arostegui, a real estate agent in Coconut Grove, Fla., whosold Fielder a home in 1995 and told the newspaper that "gambling caused CecilFielder's empire to collapse," one of the phrases the suit specifically cites asdefamatory.Arostegui declined to comment on the suit, saying he had not been served with it orseen it.The News on Oct. 17 ran a story by Girard headlined "Gambling shatters ex-Tiger'sdream life." Using court documents from Fielder's divorce case and a suit broughtagainst him by Trump Plaza Hotel and Casinos in New Jersey, as well as interviewswith family members and associates, the story describes credit accounts at casinosand debts to credit card companies and several banks. It also depicts difficultieswithin the Fielder family, and describes how the Florida mansion he owned now sitsempty.Fielder's lawyers said the stories exaggerated the gambling and reported incorrectinformation.In a follow-up story Oct. 21, Fielder told the News he planned to repay his debts,saying: "I'm going to be a man about it. I'm going to take care of all myresponsibilities."The stories also ran in USA Today.Fielder, who stopped playing in 1998, led the American League with 51 home runs and132 RBIs for Detroit in 1990. During a four-year span with the Tigers he totaled 160homers and 506 RBIs.
http://www.blogator.com/go.php?i=766299
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