Bluffton mayor awarded $50M in defamation lawsuit

Bluffton Mayor Lisa Sulka won her long-standing defamation lawsuit against local government critic Skip Hoagland on Feb. 3 and was awarded $50 million in damages. 

The jury ruled that Sulka would receive $40 million in actual damages and $10 million in punitive damages from Hoagland. Sulka said she was happy to hear that the jury had come to a quick verdict. 

Hoagland didn't attend the court date and said he was surprised to hear the amount of money that was awarded. 

"It was shocking to us when they said $50 million. That was a sham, it was a scam, it was a circus act. It was ruled on purely by emotions. The jury has no clue about what laws are about," Hoagland said. 

The lawsuit was filed by Sulka on July 26, 2017. Her complaint cited nine emails in which Sulka said Hoagland "falsely accused" her of being unfit for office. 

Sulka's lawyer John Parker said in the complaint that the statements made by Hoagland damaged the mayor's reputation, accusing her of crimes as well as "being unfit for office" and "being mentally ill." 

The emails referenced in the complaint were sent from Hoagland to various people and spanned from October 2015 to April 2017. 

In the emails, Hoagland stated that he believed Sulka was corrupt and she should be "booted from office" and "disgraced to everyone." Hoagland accused the mayor of using "town employees to profit a private corporation." 

Hoagland, a longtime critic of the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce and local municipalities, turned additional criticism toward Bluffton after town employees took part in a 2015 chamber membership drive. 

Then-town manager Marc Orlando told Bluffton Today at the time that he served as an event chair for the drive and asked for staff volunteers. About 12 town employees chose to participate.

“The chamber requested that each team member make phone calls during a three-hour shift on either day. Most Bluffton staff made calls during their regular work shifts, while a few did so remotely, Orlando said,” Bluffton Today reported in June 2015. 

The chamber is Bluffton's designated marketing organization, which means it receives accommodations tax funding from the town to promote tourism.

"If any other chamber or community organization would ask for assistance, as part of the town's corporate social responsibility practice and community service initiatives, we frequently (would) assist," Orlando, who is now Hilton Head’s town manager, wrote in a 2015 email. 

In 2016, Sulka told Bluffton Today that Hoagland “began sending me emails saying he was ‘going to boot me out of office’ and calling me ‘neither fit, qualified nor smart enough to be mayor.’” 

Sulka said this week that Hoagland's complaints and accusations had been happening for a while before her lawyers took action. She said when she and her lawyers were deciding to file the suit, they had to determine if his statements were against her as mayor or her personally. 

Sulka said she knew when she was elected that she had to form a thick skin, but these allegations were more than she expected when she took the position. 

Sulka's lawyers stated in the original complaint that the emails were published "with actual malice by the Defendants with the intent to harm Plaintiff’s reputation and to cause her to suffer mental anguish." 

Hoagland said he believes his statements in those emails were true and protected under the First Amendment. He said he plans to file a lawsuit against the mayor for violating his First Amendment rights. 

Hoagland said he will sue Sulka, the town of Hilton Head, and various other parties for $50 million each. 

"We were glad $50 million was awarded to her. When they said $50 million, we celebrated because it set the stage for us to go after them," Hoagland said. 

Hoagland had not filed an official complaint as of Tuesday.