In a Memorandum Opinion and Order issued on February 4, 2019, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Deja Vu of Nashville, a local strip club, against business owner Linda Schipani. The lawsuit arose out of testimony that Mrs. Schipani gave to the Metro Traffic and Parking Commission regarding misconduct by the strip club’s valet service operator, which the strip club claimed was part of a conspiracy. Schipani was represented by Daniel Horwitz, a First Amendment and speech defense lawyer based in Nashville.
“Mrs. Schipani is pleased that this garbage lawsuit was properly disposed of at the court’s first opportunity, as we’d promised it would be,” Horwitz said in an emailed statement to the Nashville Business Journal. “In addition to recovering her legal fees, Mrs. Schipani looks forward to celebrating this complete and total victory by continuing to be a good neighbor, a successful businesswoman, and an engaged member of her community. Future bad actors who seek to censor and intimidate their neighbors by filing nonsensical lawsuits would be wise to take heed.”
Daniel Horwitz is a First Amendment and speech defense lawyer based in Nashville, Tennessee. Selected case documents and media reports about the case are available below. If you would like to purchase a consultation from Horwitz, you can do so using the following form:
Selected Case Documents:
- *Memorandum Opinion and Order Dismissing Complaint With Prejudice
- –Complaint
- –Schipani Memorandum in Support of Her Motion to Dismiss
- –Deja Vu’s Response to Schipani’s Motion to Dismiss
- –Schipani Motion to Stay Proceedings
- –Order Granting Schipani’s Motion to Stay
- –Metro’s Motion to Dismiss
Selected Media Coverage:
- –Nashville Business Journal: Judge sides with Metro officials, property owner in strip-club legal battle
- –Patch: Nashville Strip Club Sues City Claiming ‘Conspiracy’
- –Nashville Business Journal: Nashville strip club takes aim at Metro officials, local business owners in newly filed suit
- –Nashville Business Journal: Metro fights back in strip-club legal battle