Saturday, June 30, 2007
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Lewiston's school superintendent has sued Fox News and two hosts of the network's morning show for libel and slander, stemming from comments made on the show about a racial incident at Lewiston Middle School.Leon Levesque filed suit on June 22 against Fox News Network LLC and two hosts of "Fox and Friends," Steve Doocy, of Wyckoff, N.J., and Brian Kilmeade, of Massapequa, N.Y.
Filed in U.S. District Court in Portland, the suit alleges Fox, Doocy and Kilmeade defamed Levesque during an April 24 episode of "Fox and Friends," in which items from a parody about the ham incident were reported as fact.
"[Levesque] has received a significant amount of electronic hate mail and harassing telephone calls as a result of the broadcast of the false and defamatory statements," Levesque's suit states. The superintendent is represented by Bangor attorney Bernard Kubetz of the firm Eaton Peabody.
Levesque also alleges Fox, Doocy and Kilmeade knew the facts they broadcast about the incident were false, and that their comments damaged Levesque's reputation in his community and profession.
On April 11, at Lewiston Middle School, a student put a bag containing a ham steak on a table where Somali students were seated. Officials interpreted it as a hate incident meant to offend the Muslim students, whose religion eschews pork.
An investigation resulted in one student being suspended for 10 days, but no formal charges were filed.
On April 23, an online parody of the incident appeared, containing fabricated quotes attributed to Levesque. "Fox and Friends," along with other news outlets, picked up the satirical version and rebroadcast its contents as fact.
"The superintendent, who looks as though he's going to the hilt with this, says it's akin to making these kids feel like they're being shot at back in Mogadishu and being starved to death," said Kilmeade, according to the suit.
Doocy, the suit states, declared "Fox and Friends" was "not making this [story] up," and that he had personally "looked [the story] up on a couple of different Web sites up there, from local papers."
Levesque seeks damages greater than $75,000, according to the suit.
Source: Sun Journal, June 30, 2007