HOUSTON -- A Texas appeals court refused Oct. 15 to dismiss a defamation case against two people who accused a Houston woman of being a member of a top-secret Viet Cong scheme to scam locals.
“In sum, [defendants] [Thang] Bui and [Monique] Nguyen met their initial burden, and, when the burden shifted to [plaintiff] Maya Dangelas, she made a prima facie case showing on all essential elements of her defamation suit," wrote Justice Sarah Beth Landau of the First District Texas Court of Appeals. "Dangelas was not required to make a separate prima facie showing on the injunctive relief issue or the attorney’s fee award… Having resolved these issues, we conclude the trial court did not err in denying Buy and Nguyen’s motions to dismiss.”
Justices Russell Lloyd and Gordon Goodman concurred.
The defendants attempted to get Dangelas’ case against them dismissed via the Texas Citizens Participation Act. The lower court denied the legal bit, and the appeals court agreed. It appeared Bui and Nguyen could win the case as Dangelas failed to provide an argument that they did not meet their initial burden of approval when it comes to their claims that their posts were protected under free speech.
The appeals court determined, however, that “Dangelas’ defamation claim is in response to Bui and Nguyen’s exercise of the right of association,” which is defined as “communication between individuals who join together to collectively express, promote, pursue, or defend common interests.” It was noted that a number of their Facebook posts were on a Facebook group “Dan Saigon Xui,” which has more than 90,000 members and confronts issues pertaining to the Vietnamese-American community.
Yet, as the appeals court noted before, when the burden changed to Dangelas, she also fulfilled her requirements. Her lawsuit does not depend on a specific statement, the court ruled. Instead, if one of the several allegedly defamatory statements were proven, she would satisfy the TCPA burden.
The alleged statement was published to a third party (Facebook). Bui and Nguyen have confessed that their statements that sparked fear and calls for violence were not true. Bui went as far as alleging Dangelas transferred $1 billion from communist resources to the U.S. to advance the Viet Cong movement and communism, of which there is no evidence. Nguyen also confessed she did not know Dangelas but had only read about her online.
Ultimately, the appeals court ruled that the defendants had defamed the plaintiff.
Dangelas, relocated from Vietnam to Houston as an adult. Bui and Nguyen are a part of the Vietnamese-American community in Houston. They allegedly wrote Facebook posts that accused Dangelas of being a member of the Viet Cong who aimed to bribe locals. They not only posted snapshots of Dangelas, but also shared photos of her family and posted her address, court documents states.
Dangelas said she received threatening calls but this did not stop the posts from Bui and Nguyen. When they refused to honor Dangelas’ request to remove the posts, Dangelas sued for defamation. Bui and Nguyen filed a motion to dismiss, which was denied. Although they appealed, the current court also affirmed.