After a nearly two-week trial in Los Angeles Superior Court, Venable achieved a favorable result on behalf of its client, Univision Communications, in a defamation case involving social media.
In Sintia Marroquin v. Univision Communications Inc., plaintiff claimed that Univision portrayed her in a false light by using her photo without her consent in a post on the Facebook fan page for a local radio show.
At the conclusion of the trial, plaintiff asked the jury to award compensatory damages of over $7 million in addition to punitive damages, for a total award as high as $77 million. In closing arguments, Univision's lead trial counsel, Jessica Grant, emphasized that the evidence did not support plaintiff's damages claims, much less an award of punitive damages. After deliberating for four hours, the jury returned a verdict of $72,025 in compensatory damages, and found that the company was not liable for punitive damages.
The trial team consisted of Venable partners Jessica Grant and Celeste Brecht and associate Brian Featherstun.
News of the verdict was featured in Law360, Daily Journal, Radio+Television Business Report, and InsideRadio.