In response to a defamation lawsuit filed by controversial landlord Jeffrey Butler against tenants and tenant organizers, attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union of RI and private counsel have filed a counterclaim alleging that the lawsuit is a classic SLAPP suit aimed at chilling the tenants’ freedom of speech. The counterclaim seeks dismissal of the lawsuit and an award of attorneys’ fees. SLAPP suits (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) are lawsuits that target individuals for exercising their rights to free speech and petition guaranteed by the First Amendment and that seek to chill that speech.
The suit and countersuit are part of a multi-year history involving Butler and his property management company, Elmwood Realty. In September 2023, tenant organizers and Reclaim RI, a non-profit agency that organizes tenants to vindicate their rights to safe and healthy housing conditions, began speaking with tenants at housing complexes managed by Butler in Pawtucket and West Warwick about organizing to address concerns about conditions in their rented homes. After learning that some of the tenants were speaking with tenant organizers, Butler threatened them with notices of eviction. The ACLU of RI, along with the Center for Justice, then sued Butler, arguing that the eviction threats against the tenants were a clear violation of state law, which prohibits retaliation against individuals for becoming members of a tenant’s rights organization or availing themselves of other remedies available to tenants for violations of housing laws.
The suit led to the entry of an interim consent agreement, under which Butler agreed not to proceed with any eviction proceedings against those tenants based on their meeting or talking with tenant organizers or reaching out to town health and safety officials, and which further acknowledged that it was “legal and within their rights for tenants to speak with organizers from a tenants’ union.”
In the meantime, in March 2024, another group of tenants at 1890 Broad Street in Cranston announced the formation of the Elmwood Tenants Union to address unsafe conditions at that property, also managed by Butler. Some of those tenants also asked for relief in Rhode Island district court. In April 2024, during a court-ordered inspection at the Broad Street property, an altercation between Butler and some tenants took place, leading to the police filing, but soon thereafter dropping, disorderly conduct charges against both sides. Local news reported on the arrests, which included video interviews with Butler and posting his mugshot. The mugshot was later posted on the Tenants Union TikTok, along with the caption “Jeffrey Butler, slumlord.” The TikTok had background music from a rap song which contained the lyric, “You are not a pimp/You’re a borderline sex offender.”
Although the TikTok was taken down shortly thereafter, more than a year later Butler brought this pending suit against the tenants and union organizers, claiming that the TikTok reference to “sex offender” defamed him. Butler is a prolific TikTok poster himself, posting hundreds of TikToks commenting on tenant organizers and a variety of other subjects.
The ACLU’s counterclaim argues that the tenant union’s TikTok post “was made as part of numerous efforts to communicate with other tenants and members of the public on a matter of public concern, being the ongoing public and publicly-reported controversy concerning substandard living conditions at 1890 Broad Street and the failure of the owner/manager, including Butler, to adequately or timely address them.”
The counterclaim notes that Butler has acknowledged he is a public figure, and argues that the post was not defamatory and that the tenants’ actions concerning Butler all involve matters of public concern protected by the state’s anti-SLAPP law.
Defendants in the suit are tenants Melissa Potter and Kellee Silva, Reclaim RI, and two tenant organizers, Shana Crandell and Cherie Cruz. They are being defended by ACLU of RI cooperating attorney Lynette Labinger and private counsel Mary Dunn.
Defendant Crandell said today: “Butler’s defamation claim is a clear attempt to chill the speech and public participation of tenants and organizers who used collective action and public pressure to force a criminally negligent landlord to make necessary repairs and stop harassing them. Such a claim must not be allowed to stand in Rhode Island, where all tenants have the right to organize a tenants’ union and speak freely and publicly about their experiences.”
Cherie Cruz, also named as a defendant, added: “I applaud the Elmwood Realty Tenant Union leaders, Kellee Silva and Melissa Potter, for their leadership and bravery fighting to uphold one of our most fundamental civil liberties, their First Amendment right to free speech.”
A copy of the counterclaim and other documents relating to the case can be found here.