Ex-Rep. White’s lawsuit against Ortitay dismissed
A judge ruled campaign materials critical of former state Rep. Jesse White distributed in the lead-up to the 2014 election weren’t defamatory and dismissed the lawsuit the materials prompted White to file against his successor.
In an order filed April 19, Washington County Judge John F. DiSalle threw out White’s lawsuit against state Rep. Jason Ortitay, Citizens for Jason Ortitay, the Republican Party of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania House Republican Campaign Committee.
White, an attorney from Cecil, initiated the lawsuit in county court July 21, 2015. He alleged Ortitay, the state Republican party and House campaign committee were responsible for circulating fliers and direct mail ads that cited White’s Facebook page and a 2014 story from the Morning Call newspaper and claimed White “supported a 40 percent tax increase on the middle class.”
White said the statement was false and he never made a statement supporting that increase on Facebook or elsewhere. He also said the article cited in the ads didn’t mention his name.
DiSalle wrote in his opinion that even if the statement about White is false and the article didn’t mention him, “the trial court is nevertheless hard-pressed to find a libelous meaning in the publication.”
The judge cited a case in which the state Supreme Court found statements about “men in public life and political matters” are “permitted and constitutionally protected unless they are made with actual malice.”
“Taxation is often a highly contested and at times, controversial political issue, and must be the subject of free discussion and debate,” DiSalle wrote.
White alleged the campaign materials contributed to the loss of his seat in the 46th Legislative District. He also accused the defendants of commercial disparagement, saying his law practice suffered because of their actions.
He sought damages in excess of $50,000 for each of the two counts of the amended complaint he filed in the case.
White is seeking the Democratic nomination in next week’s primary.
Ortitay, of South Fayette, is unchallenged in his bid for the Republican nod.