A Houston nightspot has sued several media outlets and two journalists for allegedly defaming its owner.
In a lawsuit filed Aug. 3 against KHOU-TV, Inc.; Gannett Co., Inc.; former KHOU assignment editor William Langlois; and Houston Chronicle reporter Dale Lezon in the Harris County 164th District Court, Status Lounge, Inc. says that a musician scheduled to perform at its venue a few months ago was shot at a nearby liquor store, but the defendants did not report the event in question as such.
“Shortly after the shooting and without doing even the most basic fact-checking – which is (the) responsibility of anyone who claims to be a journalist – and in a rush to report, Langlois (with KHOU) and Lezon (with the Houston Chronicle) told the public that the musician was shot by the owner of Status Lounge after an argument about the musician’s fees,” recent court documents say.
The lounge and cigar bar further asserts that Langlois and Lezon “did not even” reach out to it for comment, stating one of its representatives personally contacted the latter immediately after reading the stories to alert them about the purported error and encourage them to review corporate filings with the Texas Secretary of State to no avail.
Langlois and Lezon “stood by their inaccuracies,” the suit says.
As a result of the respondents’ actions, per Status Lounge, the establishment lost customers and profits. The plaintiff adds KHOU and the Houston Chronicle still have the stories minus the information it supplied up on their Web sites.
A jury trial is requested.
Attorneys Melissa Moore and Curt Hesse of the law firm Moore & Associates in Houston are representing the complainant.
Harris County 164th District Court Case No. 2016-51529