LA Court Dismisses $2.6 Million Defamation Suit Against 50 Women Who Labeled Him a 'Red Flag' Online

After being labeled a "red flag" by over 50 women in a Facebook group titled "Are We Dating The Same Guy," a California man, Stewart Lucas Murrey, filed a lawsuit seeking $2.6 million for defamation. The Los Angeles civil court has since dismissed the case, noting that the women had done nothing wrong by expressing their opinions about the man on their Facebook page, The New York Post reported.

Hailing from Santa Monica, Murrey sought damages amounting to $2.6 million for defamation and sex-based discrimination. Furthermore, he claimed that the women's Facebook posts caused him "emotional distress and pain and suffering", as per The Post.

On his GoFundMe page, Murrey claimed that at least 238 Facebook accounts were involved in "harming" him. He alleged that these individuals posted his pictures without permission, tracked his whereabouts, fabricated stories, and sensationalized their "unremarkable interactions" with him.

During a press conference last month, several of the women sued by Murrey asserted that they had done nothing wrong and were just "speaking their truth," which happened to be unfavorable to the man. In response, Murrey stated that he had never met the women who participated in the interview and that he "really saw" their faces for the first time on TV.

The women also created a GoFundMe page, where they emphasized their unity in "sharing truthful accounts of our personal experiences" and expressing valid concerns about the man's unsettling behavior and background. They asserted that Murrey "poses a legitimate danger to the women of Los Angeles."

In response to Murrey's claims in the lawsuit about the women tracking his whereabouts, Kelly Gibbons, one of the defendants, countered by stating that Murrey showed up at her house twice without notice.

"I never told him where I live, I never gave him my address. He went out of his way to track down where I live. It's disturbing. The second time my roommate was home and told me that somebody was knocking on the door but they didn't answer. He's holding his cellphone pointing at my house, my doors, and windows," Gibbons, 32, told DailyMail.

Gibbons also disclosed screenshots of conversations between her and Murrey, who purported to be a scholar on the dating platform "Hinge." She revealed that the man personally delivered the legal papers regarding the lawsuit to her, which she accepted in an attempt to halt his unannounced visits to her house.

According to DailyMail, Murrey defended his actions by claiming that he visited the defendants' residences because they had allegedly tried to evade being served with the papers. He asserted that some of them falsely claimed not to have been served, prompting him to deliver the papers in person and record video evidence of the encounters.

On the contrary, Gibbons labeled the case against her as "frivolous" and "baseless." "The case would establish a precedent and prevent him from abusing the legal system against them," said other women in the press conference. They also invoked California's anti-SLAPP laws, designed to deter meritless lawsuits.