GALVESTON – One of the defendants in a defamation lawsuit filed by a League City auto dealership employee has provided a formal response, per recent Galveston County District Court records.
Jeremy Pratt is alleged in Brett Bland’s suit to have engaged in a group text and social media campaign wrongfully labeling Bland as a sex offender when the respondent supervised the plaintiff at AutoNation Acura Gulf Freeway.
Pratt was fired for his actions in question, but the dealership, which is also a defendant in the case, purportedly allowed him to loiter on dealership premises during regular working hours.
At the end of last month, the former supervisor submitted an original answer, stating Bland “executed an arbitration agreement on November 21, 2016, which specifically provides for mandatory, binding, non-judicial arbitration of all claims raised in the plaintiff’s original petition for libel, defamation, and disparagement.”
The 3-page document argues that Bland “is contractually prohibited from pursuing the claims.”
The complainant’s employer itself formally answered the litigation on June 22, according to court records.
Galveston County 212th District Court Case No. 18-CV-0686