Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Missouri

I am a state government employee. A civilly confined resident in an institution gave an interview to a local TV station about life inside the institution. The resident encouraged other state employees to watch the interview. The resident also said he was going to be interested in reading what people had to say about the interview in the comments section of the TV station website. The resident does not have Internet access but has family members monitoring the Internet. Using my own computer and on my own time I wrote a comment about how I perceive things to be in the institution. I did not mention any resident names. I did mention the kind of frivilous lawsuits people are in the institution file or plan to file. NOW the resident who was interviewed on TV is demanding the local TV station supply the name of the person who commented (me) on the TV station website. Can the TV station be forced to reveal the real name of the person who commented? Can I as a state government employee be sued for writing a comment even though I didn't mention any names of residents or any identifiable information in my comment that was posted.


Asked on 11/08/10, 8:12 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony Smith LawSmith

It is unlikely that you could be the target of a successful lawsuit om the resident. The TV station may or may not provide names to the resident. But, your posting may have violated your work rules, and could get you in some trouble with your employer, if your name comes out.

Good luck

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Answered on 11/14/10, 6:06 am


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