IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
SAMUEL JOHNSON )
and JILL JOHNSON, )
Plaintiff )
v. )
KATHY GRIFFIN, )
Defendant )
Complaint
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4. Plaintiff Samuel Johnson (“Samuel”) is a citizen of Franklin, TN. Prior to late April 2023, Samuel was the CEO of VisuWell, Inc., a Tennessee healthcare tech start-up with its principal place of business in Nashville, TN.
5. Plaintiff Jill Johnson (“Jill”) is a citizen of Franklin, TN.
6. Defendant, Kathy Griffin (“Griffin”), is a California citizen; she has resided there for more than 40 years and owns a house in Los Angeles County, California. She has not resided outside of Los Angeles County since moving to California in 1979. She is a comedian, actress, celebrity, and political activities. She has more than two million Twitter followers, an unknown number of whom are in Tennessee; she posts about everything from comedy to politics. She has a long career doing comedy tours, returning from all tours to her home Los Angeles County, California; her comedy touring has stopped since 2019, when her Twitter post suggested violence against then-President Donald Trump, by depicting her holding the president’s severed head. Prior to 2019, Griffin performed at colleges and comedy clubs across the United States, including in Nashville, Knoxville, and Memphis.
* * *
8. On April 24, 2023, Samuel and Jill were having dinner at a hotel in Franklin. A group of forty to fifty teenagers from a Nashville high school were taking prom pictures in a courtyard near the restaurant.
9. When the noise level disturbed Samuel and other customers, he approached the group’s chaperone and asked him to get the teens to settle down.
10. One of the teens, a young male student from the school wearing a red prom dress, overheard the request and confronted Samuel. Another student, apparently the first student’s boyfriend and also student at the school, video-recorded the encounter.
11. During the encounter, Samuel told the student who confronted him that he “looks like an idiot in that dress.” Samuel regrets the comment, although the student clearly sought to goad him into a negative reaction.
12. Samuel and Jill left the hotel soon after to have dinner elsewhere.
13. The student’s boyfriend posted the video to TikTok, from which users downloaded the video and reposted it to other social media sites, including Twitter.
14. On April 25, the chairman of VisuWell, having become aware of the video, assured Samuel the company would stand by him.
15. On the morning of April 26, Griffin retweeted the video to her two million followers, adding the comment “If this is Sam Johnson of Nashville, Tennessee, the CEO of VisWell, healthcare-tech growth strategist, married to Jill Johnson where they reside in Franklin, Tennessee, it seems like he’s dying to be online famous.” The retweet included a caption from a previous post reading “Homophobic POS in Tennessee harasses a teenager for wearing a dress to prom.” The tweet tagged VisuWell’s Twitter account (tags send a tweet to the tagged user and allowed readers to link directly and comment to the company’s Twitter feed).
16. Later on April 26, the student’s boyfriend (who recorded the incident) tweeted at Griffin, thanking her for helping the video go “viral.” Griffin responded that she was “grateful” he filmed and said she would do anything she could to help.
17. Two hours later, Griffin tweeted two pictures of Samuel’s face with the caption “Who is? THIS Sam Johnson of Franklin Tennessee.”
18. Several VisuWell customers—via social media and other methods of communication—condemned Samuel and threatened to reevaluate their business ties.
19. Later on April 26, VisuWell fired Samuel and announced the firing in a reply to Griffin’s original tweet.
20. Griffin responded in the same thread, asking if VisuWell had removed Samuel from the Board of Directors and what “measures” VisuWell was taking. Her tweet added “keeping him on the Board suggests VisuWell intends to rehire him” and “the nation will remain vigilant.”
21. VisuWell responded to that with a new tweet stating that VisuWell no longer employed Samuel Johnson in any capacity.
22. Some of Griffin’s social-media followers tweeted that they had “succeeded” in having Samuel removed as CEO.
23. Griffin doxed Samuel and Jill by disclosing and emphasizing to her two million followers the private information that they lived in Franklin, TN.
24. As a result, Samuel and Jill received and continued to receive threats and harassment from Twitter users online and by phone and mail in their Franklin, TN home. The threats and harassment began before VisuWell fired Samuel on April 26 and continued after the firing.
25. As of April 2023, VisuWell was a fast-growing tech start-up. Its commercial success was due in large part to proprietary software Samuel developed.
26. During Samuel’s three years as CEO, VisuWell sales increased by 1,200 %.
27. Prior to Griffin’s tweets, VisuWell had offered Samuel support and promised to stand by him. VisuWell fired him after Griffin’s tweets about his encounter with the teens.
First Cause of Action
Tortious Interference with Employment Contract
Second Cause of Action
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Third Cause of Action
Invasion of Privacy
In response to the Complaint, Griffin moves to dismiss under FRCP 12(b)(2) and 12(b)(3). For purposes of both motions:
• Franklin is a suburb of Nashville; both are in the Middle District of Tennessee.
• Los Angeles County—which includes Los Angeles, Hollywood, and other cities—is in the Central District of California.
• Tennessee’s Long Arm Statute provides as follows: Courts of this state may exercise jurisdiction on any basis not inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Tennessee.
Section A: For Johnson, respond to the FRCP 12(b)(2) motion, including whether Griffin waived the defense of lack of personal jurisdiction by litigating improper venue.
Section B: For the court, decide the FRCP 12(b)(3) motion, including whether Griffin waived the defense of improper venue by litigating lack of personal jurisdiction.(You want to build a complete record, so analyze all possible bases for venue).
