Opinion ID: 1616152
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: When did the public controversy arise?

Text: The undisputed evidence shows that the public controversy did not arise during the period from 1993 through 1995, when the five female Radisson employees complained to Radisson management about harassment, or even when two of them complained directly to Chafoulias: those complaints were private. It is true that the complainants asserted that Radisson management did not appropriately respond to their complaints, but those assertions are only relevant to the underlying private litigation. They were not shown to have created, or even to have become a part of, a public controversy at the time they were made. The Radisson's mid-1995 retention of a law firm to investigate the complaints of harassment did not create or contribute to create a public controversy. The law firm conducted its investigation privately. Although the law firm recommended that the hotel hire a public relations firm to develop a media strategy, this recommendation did not suggest either that the private controversy had become public or that the Radisson should take any action to make it public. To the contrary, the law firm recommended the retention of a public relations firm only because of the law firm's expectation that Peterson, who by then had been identified as the attorney for the complainants, would follow a strategy of making such claims public in order to use the media to pressure settlement. The law firm's recommendation was to develop a media strategy that was designed to react to the media initiatives of Peterson. Similarly, the Radisson's mid-1995 retention of the public relations firm did not contribute to or create a public controversy. That hiring was in direct response to the law firm's report of Peterson's reputation in the legal community for using the media   . The work of the public relations firm was private. And while the public relations firm considered whether the Radisson should make a preemptive strike in the media, it ultimately recommended against a media battle with Peterson and proposed a media plan that was to be reactive only. No publicity of any kind concerning the public controversy, as earlier defined, appeared anywhere before Peterson notified Chafoulias in August of 1995 that she represented former hotel employees. In fact, no publicity of any kind concerning the public controversy appeared anywhere before April 20, 1996, when Peterson caused the Wanted posters to be distributed in Rochester. [5] Thereafter, there was a media explosion. The Rochester Post-Bulletin published at least seven articles between April 24 and May 3, 1996, and KSTP-TV broadcast a two-part series on April 30 and May 1, 1996, reporting that women were being harassed and questioning whether officials were responding appropriately. Thus, within a matter of the few days from April 20 to May 3, 1996, there was, for the first time, evidence of a public controversy. The critical question, however, is whether Peterson was the source of that public controversy.