Jersey Journal
By Michaelangelo ConteJournal staff writer
HOBOKEN – Stevens Institute of Technology has filed a defamation suit against the Fund for a Better Waterfront, saying two of its officers “maliciously published statements with knowledge of their falsity and with reckless disregard of the truth.”
The FBW has called Stevens’ suit “baseless” and said it would countersue for legal fees unless Stevens withdrew the suit. No trial date has been set.
Stevens’ allegations are against the non-profit organization’s executive director, Ron Hine, and president, Aaron Lewit. The two men spoke out against Stevens’ excavation of serpentine rock, which contains naturally occurring asbestos, in digging the foundation for its new Babbio Center for Technology Management.
The university contends that, beginning in April 2002, the FBW embarked on a campaign to block Stevens’ construction projects by publishing false statements that would cause public hysteria.
Stevens is seeking unspecified legal fees and punitive damages.
The suit lists dozens of instances in which Stevens attorneys accuse the FBW and Hine and Lewit of using hyperbole, being untruthful or exaggerating the risk to residents represented by the blasting of serpentine rock.
FBW attorney Renee Steinhagen dismissed the suit as a “SLAPP” – a Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation – used to intimidate community groups from speaking out against large institutions.
“SLAPP suits are a power tool, not a means of redressing defamation,” she said yesterday.
“Citizens have a right to make complaints, (but) Stevens obviously has resources and it is using them as a bludgeon on citizens.”
Steinhagen said Stevens filed the suit in an attempt to pre-emptively silence community resistance to future approvals Stevens will seek for its master plan, released last month.
“None of the statements made by the FBW are actual defamation… There is no basis in law for what they claim,” she said. “Universities usually stand for free speech. It is more than inappropriate for an educational institution and a non-profit organization to be silencing its critics though litigation. I think the suit will be dismissed quickly.”
Work on the Babbio Center was briefly halted in early January when the city issued a “stop work” order after a city zoning officer said he saw workers building an underground parking garage under the center which was not included in building plans submitted to the city.
A state Superior Court judge issued a stay while the order is appealed by the university’s attorneys, who contend the construction was preliminary in nature and that city approval would have been sought before starting work on the garage itself.