Jury: Haggins liable for social media postings about SFC Housing Authority

A Forrest City woman was found liable this week in a defamation lawsuit filed against her on behalf of a public housing agency and its director over posts she made to social media. On Monday, a St. Francis County jury sided with the SFC Housing Authority in a defamation lawsuit filed by the agency’s executive director T.L. Jones against Tracy Haggins. The jury awarded $15,000 in punitive damages to Jones and $10,000 to the agency. The jury also awarded $1,000 each in compensatory damages to Jones and the agency. In March last year, Jones filed the defamation lawsuit against Haggins over statements Haggins posted on social media that Jones claimed were not true. The lawsuit cited an incident from February last year in which Haggins claimed, among other things, that Jones made an unauthorized disclosure regarding Haggins’ financial situation to a third party; that Jones admitted to her that the SFCHA and its commissioners were dysfunctional; that Jones and the SFCHA engaged in fraud and harassment, and committed a privacy violation. She also claimed Jones and the agency altered minutes of meetings. Jones, who was represented by Forrest City Attorney Austin Easley, sought $75,000 in damages. Haggins, who represented herself in the case and at the trial, denied all of Jones’s allegations in the only court filing she made in response to the lawsuit. In October, Circuit Court Judge Danny Glover, who heard the case on Monday, granted a request by Easley for a motion for a summary judgment and scheduled a hearing for Jan. 9 to determine damages. In November, Easley notified the court that the defendants wanted the case to be heard by a jury, which Glover granted. He set Feb. 24 for a one-day trial. Haggins failed to attend the Jan. 9 hearing. After filing her initial response to the lawsuit, Haggins did not file any other documents in the case and did not respond to other court filings, online court records show. "As I told the jury, the truth matters and lies have consequences,” said Easley after the verdict was rendered. “A court of law has determined that Tracy Haggins dispensed lies and falsehoods about the St. Francis County Housing Authority and T.L. Jones. A 12-person jury sent a message that such lies will not be tolerated in this community."

Jury: Haggins liable for social media postings about SFC Housing Authority

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Jury: Haggins liable for social media postings about SFC Housing Authority

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