Judge dismisses amended complaint against Battie 'with prejudice'

Consistent with his prior ruling on June 12, 12th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Stephen Walker has dismissed, with prejudice, Sarasota resident Kelly Franklin’s defamation suit against City Commissioner Kyle Battle. 

On Sept. 13, Franklin filled a five-count amended complaint against Battie over comments he made during a Jan. 16 City Commission meeting, during which he displayed on overhead projection a crumpled printout of a racist social media post he alleged was made by Franklin. 

The printout included an image of Battie and owners of Corona Cigar Bar cutting a ribbon at their new store accompanied by the words, “Gorillas in the midst of being gorillas are on my mind.” Franklin’s name and profile photo were clearly visible, as Battie railed at length about racism in Sarasota.

Franklin denied ever making the post, calling it an amateurish “mashup” of two posts from her Facebook page, one challenging the legality of the Corona Cigar’s sidewalk seating and the other from a 2022 Africa photo safari featuring dozens of photos of “gorillas in the midst of being gorillas.” 

Courtesy image

The printout had been delivered to Corona Cigar and, after having been crumpled and thrown away by an administrative assistant was retrieved and turned over to co-owner Tanya Borysiewicz, who is biracial, who in turn delivered it to Battie. 

As a result, Franklin filed suit for defamation, defamation per se, defamation by implication, conspiracy to defame and intention infliction of emotional distress, all of which were dismissed twice by Walker on the basis of Florida law that protects elected officials from litigation over anything said in the course of a public meeting, regardless of how egregious it may be.

Battie’s attorney, Brian Goodrich, said he is satisfied with the final ruling, emphasizing that it reinforces his actions as well within the boundaries of his official role, effectively protecting him under long-standing legal immunities. “

“We are grateful for Judge Walker’s order dismissing Kelly Franklin’s amended complaint with prejudice,” said Goodrich. “The order of dismissal, which tracks Florida law, affirms that Commissioner Battie is not liable for Ms. Franklin’s claims. We are hopeful that this represents the conclusion of Ms. Franklin’s unfounded litigation against Commissioner Battie.”

Wrote Walker in his ruling, “The law is clear: absolute immunity of an official operates to relieve him from the necessity of being subjected to trial of an action based on his privileged conduct, notwithstanding that a complaint for libel which is filed against him may allege, as a conclusion, that he is without such immunity or was acting beyond the scope of his duty or office."

He further explained, “Here, defendant made every statement alleged in this lawsuit in the course of a regularly scheduled City Commission meeting on Jan. 16, 2024 as a duly elected city commissioner and his statements were related to a specific new business agenda item: "Civility, Respect, and Rhetoric.”

That item was added to the previously published agenda by Battie.

Walker also cited the 2004 case of Williams v. Worldwide Flight Svcs. Inc., which retired “liability does not extend to mere insults, indignities, threats or false accusations,” despite acknowledging that the indignity resulting from an accusation of racism “carries serious consequences. The accused may find themself subjected to ridicule and shame.”

Wrote Walker, “Based on the foregoing analysis, and consistent with this Court's prior order, it is hereby ordered that (Battie’s) motion to dismiss the amended complaint with prejudice is granted and Franklin’s complaint is dismissed, with prejudice.”

Franklin told the Observer the timing of the ruling was conspicuous, coming two days after a municipal election in which Battie was running for his second term as the District 1 city commissioner. She said she has 30 days to determine whether to appeal.

“My lawsuit was never about money, but about clearing my name after authorship of the faked racist Facebook post was falsely and publicly attributed to me,” Franklin said. “It would be in the best interests of everyone if Kyle Battie acknowledged publicly that his accusation against me was in error, and that he should have investigated the authenticity of the hoax post more thoroughly before accusing me in public of creating it, and that he regrets the way he has handled this matter.”

Battie, who won re-election by a more than an 11% margin, said he is satisfied with the decision. ”

With this resolution, I hope we can all move on to other issues that matter to our residents,” Battie said.