Chicago-based Annmarie Swatos is suing a former employer who she had an affair. The reason? Defamation. According to Swatos, Richard Gloor spread rumors about her being “post-partum and delusional” as well as “crazy”. Due to the rumors, numerous Facebook friends unfriended her and as a result of losing those friends Swatos believes she should be awarded $50,000 on the count of “tortuous interference with business relations”.
I honestly have never read a court document that was this amusing. Then again, I don’t spend much time reading law suits about affairs people have. According to Switched, the argument may not be that ridiculous. The real question is what sort of relationships she had with the Facebook friends who she lost. As Amar Toor of Switched writes, “Swatos’ lawyers could couch her dwindling Facebook network as a loss in business, especially in such a contact-reliant industry as real estate.”
It’s a difficult thing to determine. Did Swatos really lose $50,000 worth of relationships? How do you come up with a value for those relationships? Swatos doesn’t deny having the affair, however she believe her contacts unfriended her due to the rumors that were spread about her. There’s ultimately no way to determine why the friends actually unfriended her in the first place.
I’ve personally lost Facebook friends in the past but unfortunately I have no idea who has unfriended me and who hasn’t. I’d probably noticed if the people were extremely close to me though. Is this an absolutely ridiculous case or do you think suing somebody for lost Facebook friends resulting from false rumors is a legitimate case? If you are interested in reading the court documents, I’ve embedded them below.
![[Inside Social Apps 2012]](http://www.allfacebook.com/wordpress/wp-content/themes/allfacebook2/images/ISA2012_336x100_F_RegisterNow.gif)
![[AllFacebook Stats: Facebook Analytics for Your Business]](http://www.allfacebook.com/wordpress/wp-content/themes/allfacebook2/images/stpro_allfacebookstats.gif)
![[How can Facebook change your business?]](http://www.allfacebook.com/wordpress/wp-content/themes/allfacebook2/images/FMB_A_MAY2011_336x100_F.gif)
Why does Facebook have to pay? They don't owe anyone friends – regardless of a fictitious dollar value.
Comment by Shaun Nestor — November 4, 2009 @ 2:34 pm
Are you kidding me? Do you not have anything better to report on?
Comment by Phil — November 4, 2009 @ 3:08 pm
i think that she should work on ways to build better rapport with her "friends" in the first place so that the rumours become ineffective, i can think of a bunch of things that she could be doing other than suing, like actually being better at her job for instance
Comment by dj adelaide — November 4, 2009 @ 5:48 pm
If you were really friends with someone you would probably know if they were crazy or not.
Comment by Damo — November 4, 2009 @ 7:47 pm
nobody freakin' reads anymore…
She isn't suing Facebook/they aren't suggesting anyone sue Facebook; she's suing her former boss (and ex-lover) for spreading rumors about her on Facebook.
Comment by Toni — November 4, 2009 @ 10:59 pm
why is fb responsible for this?? lols… dumb
Comment by facebookguru — November 5, 2009 @ 6:06 am
@ Shaun
She's not suing facebook. she's suing her former employer/ex lover for using his free speech on his own facebook page. or in her words, defamation of character.
Her lawsuit might just prove his point that she's "crazy and/or delusional". LOL
Comment by phyllis — November 5, 2009 @ 6:36 am
You are all morons! This is not about Facebook. If you took the time to read past the first sentence or the complaint, you would find that the name Facebook is an example of a social networking site. Let’s over sensationalize this now! The complaint clearly states that real estate broker has an affair with one of his real estate agents and then tries to cover himself and make the other woman look bad. The defriending or rejection on facebook is the confirmation that defamatory remarkes were made about Ms. Swatos throughout the community. The real issue should be why is Richard Gloor cheating on his wife? Once a cheater, always a cheater!
Comment by BlackBart — November 5, 2009 @ 3:42 pm
In fact, this a is Funny story..
Comment by Claire — November 6, 2009 @ 2:43 am
50 000 $ , only ?!
Comment by Patrick Nouhailler — November 10, 2009 @ 9:48 am
This woman obviously has severe mental and emotional problems which is not amusing in the least.
Comment by Imthinking — November 17, 2009 @ 3:43 pm
Do you people NOT read??? This is a lawsuit about defamation and libel NOT facebook. That is only one example of how she had her reputation tainted by some jerk that cheated on his wife and is now looking for an easy way out. Isn't this always the story….honey, I didn't love her, it was all in HER head. So typical of a man caught that doesn't have the balls to be upfront about it!
Comment by SayWhat — November 23, 2009 @ 6:02 am
Just like David Letterman, Tiger Woods, Govonor Mark Sanford, I guess it happes a lot, although you're just another dope who got caught.
Comment by BlackBart — December 2, 2009 @ 10:41 am
She's not suing Facebook!! I feel she has a right to sue her ex for false rumors. This can totally destroy one's reputation; and one will go to all lengths to look "shiny." I hope she wins on this one, and the laws are put in the books for future reference. I know what this is like. I have lost many "friends" because of rumors by my ex.
Comment by Deb — December 20, 2009 @ 4:54 pm
Well, buzz around town is that Rich was trying to save his marriage by denying the affair and making Swastos sound like some crazy stalker instead of fessing up and telling his wife that he had in fact, had an affair. I think the title of the articles make the suit sound childish and is a bit misleading.
Comment by Mary — June 22, 2010 @ 7:05 am