COLUMBIA (WACH) - The Sikh Religious Society, Inc., of South Carolina is suing a South Carolina blogger for publishing "reckless and defamatory per se statements" in March.
The religious society, which is supported by Gov. Nikki Haley's parents, filed a complaint against the Palmetto Public Record, Logan Smith, and two John Does on May 22.
The lawsuit alleges that on March 29, 2012, "Logan Smith published statements on the Palmetto Public Record website claiming that the Sikh Religious Society of South Carolina had engaged in criminal conduct with respect to its finances. Those statements were categorically false, and were proven to be false the very next day, but the extreme damage to an already misunerstood religious organization was already done."
The two unnamed defendants are the "well-placed legal experts," according to the lawsuit, who "independently told Palmetto Public Record" of the "possible indictment" of Gov. Nikki Haley, according to the Palmetto Public Record.
The statments made by the Palmetto Public Record have been deemed "absolutely false" by the Sikh Religious Society, who claims they were never contacted by Smith to "comment on or otherwise correct" the statement prior to publishing them.
The religious society is not only concerned about the statements being made, but also that the statements "quickly disseminated" across the country after being picked up by the national media.
One of the related articles published to the Palmetto Public Record on March 29 said, "the PPR website crashed within half an hour due to the massive amount of traffic the story is getting."
The defandants are being accused of defamation and civil conspiracy for several actions including publishing false statements to third parties and objecting to bring public ridicule on the Sikh Religious Society of South Carolina.
The religious society is being represented by the same Columbia attorneys who represent Haley, Butch Bowers of Hall & Bowers, L.L.C.
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