A federal judge ruled Thursday that a $275 million lawsuit from Covington Catholic student Nicholas Sandmann against NBCUniversal can proceed in court.
NEWSPUNCH — U.S. District Court Judge William Bertelsman dismissed parts of the lawsuit while allowing discovery on allegations that the network’s coverage defamed Nicholas by reporting that he ‘blocked’ Native American elder Nathan Phillips, according to reports.
“[T]he court finds that the statements that plaintiff ‘blocked’ Phillips or did not allow him to retreat, if false, meet the test of being libelous per se under the definition quoted above,” Judge Bertelsman ordered.
Dailywire.com reports: Sandmann attorney Lin Wood wrote on Twitter: “As predicted, today Judge Bertelsman entered an order allowing the Nicholas Sandmann case against NBCUniversal to proceed to discovery just as he had earlier ruled with respect to WaPo & CNN cases. Huge, huge win!”
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Late last month, Bertelsman reversed course on Sandmann’s $250 million lawsuit against The Washington Post after having initially blocked it from moving forward.
“After reviewing an amended complaint, Judge William Bertelsman ordered Monday that the case could enter the discovery phase and hence a portion of the lawsuit against the newspaper could continue,” the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. “The judge’s order that discovery can continue means Sandmann’s legal team can make requests for internal Washington Post documents concerning the events like emails and communications between editors and reporters.”
