NEW HAVEN, Conn. (Legal Newsline) - A personal injury lawyer can't pursue defamation claims against one of his frequent targets in court, a federal judge has ruled in the latest development in the battle between Jeffrey Bagnell and gun-maker SIG Sauer.
Bagnell has filed at least 15 suits against the company alleging its P320 pistol goes off without users pulling the trigger. He also put an animated film on his website and YouTube page that he says shows the specific malfunction with the gun - a video disputed by SIG Sauer.
So SIG Sauer sued Bagnell to get the video taken down, and Bagnell counter-sued that a press release issued by the company when it filed suit was defamatory.
But Connecticut federal judge Jeffrey Alker Meyer ruled July 10 that his claims fail, as the press release accurately summarized SIG Sauer's lawsuit. Meyer cited the fair report privilege.
"Its first sentence states that SIG Sauer has filed a lawsuit which 'alleges' that the Bagnell parties have published false information about the P320, and that SIG Sauer 'believes' these misrepresentations are willful," Meyer wrote.
"This context makes clear that the statement represents the opinions or claims that SIG Sauer is making rather than objective facts. The statements in the press release also mirror those in the initial complaint."
SIG Sauer's lawsuit and press release also didn't violate the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act, he wrote. A week later, Bagnell filed a motion for reconsideration, claiming courts have held the fair report privilege does not cover defamatory statements that arise from a defendant's own complaint.
As for Bagnell's actual personal injury cases against SIG Sauer, the company won summary judgment in a Kentucky case earlier this year, while a New Hampshire jury in 2022 also sided with the company.