Rick Carufel Files Complaint Against STGRB

Author Rick Carufel has officially filed a complaint against STGRB in the 3rd District Court of Minnesota. You can read all about it here.

This announcement also appears on his Facebook page. 

While I am not at liberty to release any further details, I did get a chance to talk with Rick, and have learned that his intentions is to also hopefully assist others who have been victimized by STGRB in the future to file similar complaints. 

The complaint itself also requests the true identity of the owner of STGRB, and all who post on the website. Speculation persists that the owner listed, Athena Parker, and author Melissa Douthit are one and the same. It is also widely believed that the other contributors of the site are also one person. Whether or not this is actually true, one thing is for certain, we could find out once and for all the identities of all contributors of STGRB.

If this complaint runs it course, this could also be a landmark case in the fight against anonymous owners and contributors of websites and those who use these websites to attack others online in an attempt to damage reputations and careers. 

STGRB originally came onto the scene about two years or so ago in an effort to combat online bullies and their attacks on authors on the book website Goodreads.com, and the Amazon Forum Boards. However, in recent months, they have turned their attacks towards select authors such as Rick Carufel, myself and others. 

STGRB has publicly referred to Rick Carufel as a "coke monkey" in the past, as well as targeting those who oppose their views. While their intentions may have been honorable in the beginning, it has become a place now where if you do not agree with STGRB on any level or issue, they publicly attack those people for the sake of public humiliation. 

If the lawsuit goes through, Mr. Carufel hopes to collect financial damages that STGRB has caused to his career. 

No word yet as to what world renowned author Anne Rice feels about this filing, or if she is even aware of it. Anne Rice has recently been endorsing STGRB while refusing to endorse Goodreads. One can only wonder the impact this could make on Ms. Rice's reputation and public image if STGRB is found guilty of any wrong-doing. 

I'll be keeping up on this story as it develops.  

I'm Carroll Bryant .... and this is The Looking Glass