Texas lawyer's $100M suit says online critic's Nazi label got him fired
Texas lawyer Jason Van Dyke has filed a $100 million suit against an online critic who allegedly called the lawyer a Nazi and white supremacist.
Van Dyke’s suit says he was fired on March 27 from the Plano law firm Karlseng, LeBlanc & Rich because of website posts by the critic, Thomas Christopher Retzlaff, Texas Lawyer reports. Van Dyke claims Retzlaff’s conduct amounted to libel and tortious interference with contract.
Van Dyke’s suit also claims Retzlaff made “frivolous” allegations in a grievance filed against Van Dyke with the State Bar of Texas in December 2017. The disciplinary complaint against Van Dyke was initially dismissed, but reinstated last month by the Board of Disciplinary Appeals, according to the lawsuit
Retzlaff said in the grievance that Van Dyke had been threatening Retzlaff and his family because Van Dyke believed that Retzlaff had cost him a potential job with the Victoria County District Attorney’s Office, according to Van Dyke’s suit.
Retzlaff said in the grievance that he had advised the DA, “Do not hire this dude—he is a flipping lunatic” who gets into “flame wars” with people on the internet, according to Van Dyke’s suit.
Van Dyke’s suit says he is not suing Retzlaff for filing the grievance, but he is suing over Retzlaff’s allegations in the grievance and at his website.
Retzlaff denies he posted the online material alleged by Van Dyke in his suit, according to Texas Lawyer. He also said he has the right to complain to the state bar. He plans to file a motion to toss the suit under Texas’ anti-SLAPP law.
Van Dyke has previously sued the Victoria County DA in a bid to find out why the job offer was rescinded, and previously sued a journalist for a post allegedly referring to Van Dyke as a Nazi, according to stories by the Victoria Advocate and the Huffington Post.
The Karlseng firm issued a statement to Texas Lawyer. “Getting caught in the crossfire of a cyber war is no fun,” the firm said in response to the publication’s request for comment. “Our firm does not tolerate discrimination in any way.”
