UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
LAURIE J. FINE, COMPLAINT Plaintiff, Civil Action No. -againstJURY TRIAL DEMANDED ESPN, Inc. a subsidiary of Walt Disney, Inc.; MARK SCHWARZ, in his individual capacity and as an employee of ESPN, and ARTHUR BERKO, in his individual capacity and as an employee of ESPN, Defendants.
COMES NOW Plaintiff, Laurie J. Fine, by and through her attorneys, Lawrence H. Fisher and Kevin W. Tucker, Cohen and Willwerth, P.C., One Oxford Centre, 301 Grant Street, Suite 4300, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, (724) 986-9785, Facsimile: (412) 2553701, and states in her Complaint for Libel against Defendants, ESPN, Inc. (“ESPN”), jointly owned by The Walt Disney Company and the Hearst Corporation, Mark Schwarz (“Schwarz”), and Arthur Berko (“Berko”) as follows: PRELIMINARY STATEMENT 1.
This Complaint for Libel arises from Defendant ESPN’s coverage of
Robert Davis’ uncorroborated attack upon Plaintiff Laurie J. Fine. Through this coverage, ESPN, acting by and through its agents and employees, including Defendants Mark Schwarz and Arthur Berko, spitefully destroyed Laurie Fine’s reputation in an attempt to capitalize financially in the tragic wake of the Penn State Sex Abuse Scandal. Defendants have ruined Laurie Fine’s reputation by maliciously publishing false and defamatory