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In April 2017, the leadership of the Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators received a troubling email.
His literary agent wrote Oliver a few days later to praise her handling of a delicate situation.
One of his accusations that Oliver mischaracterized the circumstances surrounding his departure from the organization may have some merit.
The accusations went beyond Asher.
Oliver herself was attacked by commenters for her inaction and for giving one of her darlings special treatment.
She was trying to protect herself and her group, but her reaction may have imperiled them.
Last week, Asher accused her of defamation.
He includes the substance of that first anonymous email, but writes, these allegations were false.
(His agent dropped him, too.)
Asher is not the first man to sue for defamation in the wake of Harvey Weinsteins reckoning.
In November 2017, the filmmaker Brett Ratner accused an employee who said hed raped her of libel.
(He laterdropped the case.)
Last October, writer Stephen Elliott sued the creator of the Shitty Men In Media List for defamation.
(His case is still pending.)
They see it happening in the press, and theyre afraid that this might happen to them.
It does chill people from speaking out.
From the defendants perspective, such suits can look like retroactive silencing mechanisms.
Was Oliver serving her members best when she settled the matter discreetly back in 2017?
Or did they have a right to know that hed left the organization, and why?
Nobody wants a lawsuit and its easier to stay quiet, she said.
Its an information-exchange problem that affects all of us.
Several lawyers I spoke to were highly skeptical that Ashers suit would succeed.
Its particularly difficult to win such suits in California.
To all accounts, Ashers lawsuit looks foolish, and it looks retaliatory.
The new evidence points to something different an informal private agreement.
Did Oliver really investigate the accusations?
And did he leave on his own terms, or was he expelled?
Then, they cant be liable for defamation.
Its possible that both Asher and Oliver may have given incomplete versions of how things played out between them.
Thats no longer tolerated in the current era.
No single defamation suit is likely to change that fact in 2019 at least not for now.
