Threats of Lawsuits?

From the original BBC Open Forum:

Deacon threatens legal action

"I'm not sure if there is any legal consequence to making my personal e-mail address available to the public, but I am willing to find out. I would appreciate it if you would remove the e-mail addresses from your site."

Well, you can sue anyone for anything. Remember the lady that spilled coffee in her lap & then sued McDonalds for making their coffee too hot? The deacon probably won't win his lawsuit, but I think he definitely will lose some respect. I find it interesting – well a bit shocking really – that a deacon would threaten litigation over something like this. Does the deacon have a right to be annoyed? Sure. But threats to sue the guy right out of the box? Seems a little heavy handed to me when maybe an appeal to have his email address removed might have sufficed.

I think it was totally improper for savingbellevue.com to post all of the the deacon email addresses. I also think the letter from this deacon (assuming it is a legit letter) including not too subtle threats is also improper.

Sentence two in the deacon email above is fine, sentence one went a bit too far.

Disagree? Comments are open. Set me straight.

Update 1: Hmm. This sounds like a threat also.

Do you not copy me on your further emails ... I told you earlier to stop emailing me and now you are harassing me. Continue, and I will take action against you.

Update 2: Now this and this strike the right chord.

Thank you for your e-mail. As a deacon I am a servant of the Lord and His church. This makes me your servant as well. If you would like, I would be honored to meet with the two of you, either in your home or at a place of your choosing, to discuss whatever concerns you have.

Thanks for your excellent letter…your concern is shared by many and there will be no resolution until both sides have the opportunity to speak!

I suppose a good rule for life is that you should assume whatever you write in an email will be forwarded to the world, so chose your words carefully and set the right tone. Mean what you say and say what you mean.

posted by BBC Open Forum at 1:22 PM on Oct 14 2006

Gremillion letter and additional deacon responses