A man from California has sued fifty women for $2.6m after they called him a ''bad date'' on a Facebook page dedicated to dating experiences. According to the New York Post, Stewart Lucas Murrey launched lawsuits against them after they allegedly posted negative stories about him on a Facebook group titled ''Are We Dating The Same Guy?''
Kelly Gibbons, who met him on a dating app, wrote on the group's Los Angeles page that Mr Murrey was rude on their first phone date in February 2022 and warned the 10,000 other women in the chapter about him. She said she ''wouldn't want [her] friend going out with someone like that''. Other women also wrote about their experiences after going on a date with him.
After the posts went viral, Mr Murrey slapped them with lawsuits featuring Ms Gibbons as the lead defendant. Mr Murrey alleged the women posted a variety of falsehoods about him, including that he is suspected of murder or involved in a murder case, and that he has several domestic violence charges against him. He claimed that the Facebook posts ruined his love life, damaged his reputation and cost him millions in missed job opportunities.
He also started a GoFundMe page for his case and received support from other men. On the page, he wrote, ''Some of their acts included posting my pictures without my permission, tracking my whereabouts, conspiring to harass me, fabricating entire stories, and sensationalising their unremarkable interactions with me.''
In response, the women said that he is using legal action to intimidate them, and they are requesting the courts to slap him down.
A judge ruled that one woman, Vanessa Valdez, did not do anything wrong by sharing her opinion in the group. The women are hopeful that the court's decision will set a precedent and prevent Mr Murrey and other such people from using the legal system to target them in the future.
They have also launched a GoFundMe page to raise money to defend themselves.
In their GoFundMe page, the women said: "We were simply coming together to share truthful accounts of our personal experiences. It is our opinion that this plaintiff poses a legitimate danger to the women of Los Angeles. Our negative interactions with him have spanned years. We plan to finally put an end to his harassing ways once and for all.''
