BUFFALO, N.Y. — Another defendant in the lawsuit brought forth by the families of survivors of the 5/14 massacre at Tops has had their dismissal motion denied.
Monday afternoon Judge Paula Feroleto denied 4Chan's motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
In their motion to dismiss, attorneys for 4Chan argued that New York state is not the proper forum for the lawsuit. The social media site argued that because they are not a New York corporation, the lawsuit can't take place in the state.
In her ruling, Judge Feroleto said "4Chan chose to do business in New York. Live stream of the mass shooting was posted on the 4Chan platform from New York. The assailant, a resident of New York, interacted repeatedly with 4Chan. It has been alleged that the conduct of 4Chan in providing content to the shooter radicalized him."
"We allege in our initial filing that 4chan was responsible for defective product design and causing radicalization of the person who carried out this attack," said Kristen Elmore Garcia, the attorney representing the families of 5/14 victims and survivors. "They believe that because they don't have certain employees here, mailing address here, that they shouldn't be held responsible in a New York State court--however, the judge did not buy that reasoning."
There are additional motions that still need to be considered by the judge in this case. 4Chan, along with other social media platforms like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and Snap filed a motion to dismiss saying that the Communications Decency Act is applicable in the case and "precludes the claim against them."
In her ruling against 4Chan, Judge Feroleto said "this separate theory will be addressed in the courts' decision relating to all the 'social media defendants.'"
"This decision that we received really just means that 4Chan can be brought to court in New York, which we believe unequivocally that they should be brought to court in New York," said Elmore Garcia.