Defaming someone on a billboard can get you in big trouble.  That’s the lesson of Anagnost, Crews and Grenier v Michael Gill.  Here are the facts.

• Michael Gill owned three electronic billboards in New Hampshire.  He was not in the out of home business but used the digital billboards to promote his businesses.
• In March 2016 Gill published a picture of Dick Anagnost on his Manchester billboard together with the words “Dick Anagnost Drug Dealer”.  Gill published the picture of Andrew Crews on his Manchester billboard along with the words “Andy Crews Drug Dealer.”  Gill published a picture of William Greiner on the Manchester billboard along with the words “William Grenier Extortion.”  Anagnost, Crews and Grenier were three prominent New Hampshire leaders active in business and community ventures.  Apparently Gill saw sinister motives when Anagnost, Crews and Grenier donated money to a non-profit drug and alcohol recovery treatment center.
• In April 2016 Anagnost, Crews and Greiner sued Gill for defamation for publishing “taunting and extreme statements which falsely accuse Plaintiffs of crimes and that are abhorrent to a civilized society, with ill will, evil motive, intent to injure and wanton disregard for Plaintiff’s rights and the consequences…”
• A judge found Gill guilty of defamation.  A jury  awarded Anagnost, Crews and Greiner $274 million in damages.  In 2018 the New Hampshire Supreme Court concurred.   Anagnost, Crews and Grenier have been slowly taking possession of Gill’s assets including real estate and the billboards.  In October 2019 they took over the billboard which started the lawsuit and put up a new message: “Hey Mike!  Look at OUR billboard now!”

Insider’s take:  The penalties for publishing defamatory statements on your billboards can be immense.  Use good sense and don’t publish anything you suspect is false.  And just because you can doesn’t mean you should.  A mean or disparaging ad may not open you up to a defamation lawsuit but it can certainly hurt your company’s  reputation.  For more details see Rothfelder on Defamatory Ads.

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