Judge tosses out defamation lawsuit against Review

Omar Nakash

By Charles Sercombe
A Wayne County Circuit Court judge has thrown out a libel/slander lawsuit filed against The Review newspaper and Publisher John Ulaj.
Omar Nakash, the owner of Platinum Landscaping, Inc, a city contractor, filed the lawsuit last year over a remark made by Ulaj when he ran for mayor in 2013.
On Wednesday, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Ryan agreed with The Review’s attorney James Raftery that the lawsuit was without basis.
“This is a clear attempt to silence … to intimidate these people,” said Raftery about Nakash’s lawsuit.
In the same vein, Ryan said it is lawsuits like Nakash’s that create a “chilling effect” on a newspaper’s ability to report the news.
Nakash has 21 days to appeal the decision.
His lawsuit stems from a comment made by Ulaj in a mayoral candidate forum in which he said that Platinum Landscaping is “ripping off the city,” and he would fire the company if elected.
The Review published that remark.
Nakash also claimed that Ulaj said he was a “crook” to former Councilmember Cathie Gordon and resident Hillary Cherry.
Ulaj has denied knowledge of making that comment.
Ulaj did not make it past the primary in the 2013 election, and Mayor Karen Majewski went on to win her third term.
The basis for Ulaj’s comment that Platinum was “ripping off the city” came from an independent auditor’s study, referred to as the SRR report, made in 2012 of the invoices of four major city contractors.
Out of $40,000 worth of invoices submitted by Platinum, only about $4,000 could be accounted for, the report found. That means about $36,000 could not be backed up, the report said.
Judge Ryan said that Ulaj’s comment was an opinion that “could be extracted from a public document.” There was nothing, Ryan said, that indicated the comment is “untruthful.”
As for the “crook” comment, whether it was said or not, Ryan said that it, too, was an opinion based on a public document (the SRR report) “that was not in dispute.”
“It’s not tantamount to libel,” Ryan said.
Ryan also noted that since Nakash failed to first ask for a retraction from Ulaj before filing his lawsuit he is unable to request puntitive damages.
Nakash had asked for over $25,000 in damages.
Judge Ryan also acknowledged that Nakash can be considered a public figure, which means that he is open to a higher level of public criticism.
Nakash’s attorney argued that dismissing the lawsuit was premature and that there should at least be depositions taken to determine if there is weight to Nakash’s allegations.
Judge Ryan also noted that despite Ulaj’s remark Platinum is still doing business with the city. That means, the judge said, there is no evidence of “tortious interference.”
Review Publisher Ulaj said he was pleased with the ruling.
“This is a victory for not only freedom of speech, but more importantly for the taxpayers. It shows the need for their hard-earned money to be accounted for,” said Ulaj. “We will not be intimidated by anyone.”
Platinum Landscaping is contracted to provide snow plowing and street salting service as well as tree trimming and removal and cold patching potholes.
The company has earned over $2 million in the last few years.
It recently came to light that Platinum’s work assignments and invoice reviews were being conducted by Nakash’s uncle, Steve Shaya.
Shaya was the Director of Public Works until last August when he was fired by the city’s emergency manager after he revealed he was the uncle of Nakash. Prior to becoming a city employee, Shaya worked for Platinum.