Simpson v. Burrows

90 F.Supp.2d 1108 (D.Or. 2000)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P and her partner, June Swanson, purchased the Christmas Valley Lodge and Restaurant. It was in a small rural community of about 300 residents. P had served in the Army for twenty years, had gone to cooking school, and had worked as a corrections officer for the State of Washington. They renovated the lodge. Business was good. She held a grand opening party and also hosted wedding and anniversary parties. P made a profit in her first year. Letters were then circulated to the local residents. They attacked P and her partner for being lesbians and that the sale of the Lodge to them will make Christmas Valley 'a mecca for Queers, Lesbians, Perverts & other degenerates[.]' It labels the women as 'the enemy.' A third letter, printed in heavy marking pen, states 'NO FAGS IN C.V.' immediately above a swastika. In June 1996, the letters turn more invective. For example, one letter entitled 'THE LESBIAN SPIRIT IS ON THE PROWL IN CHRISTMAS VALLEY' starts with the following passage: Be forewarned [sic], my people, the Lesbian spirit is a malignant, putrefied, demonic force that will infect you and yours together with all your community if left to stand among you. It will prowl amoung [sic] you to see who it can infect, devour, pervert or kill. According to the author, a lesbian is a 'whore sitting on a scarlet colored beast full of blasphemy.' Id. The letter further states that 'the time has come to stand up for righteousness and morality []' and implies that the lesbian spirit will devour the life of the community if the people 'do nothing.' The letters began to suggest violence. In November 1996, after Swanson had left Christmas Valley, a letter of just thirteen words was sent to the Lodge. It states: JUNE LEFT NOW IT'S YOUR TURN TO GO HEAD FIRST OR FEET FIRST. Further letters told P she was targeted. State Police Officer Richard Watson, who conducted a criminal investigation into the letters, obtained copies of approximately twenty to thirty letters from community residents. People knew about the letters even without seeing them. D was indicted for intimidation in the first degree. D entered an Alford plea. Ds denied writing the letters. The magistrate did not buy the story and found that Ds wrote the letters and circulated them. P testified that the letters were responsible for Swanson leaving the area in September 1996. P bought a gun because she was afraid all the time. P testified that the letters embarrassed her. P testified that as soon as the first letter was distributed, less than one month after P took possession of the Lodge, the dining room immediately lost its Sunday business because no one came in for lunch after church. The Lodge failed to generate a profit after December 1996. P sold the Lodge in September 1998. P paid $262,000 and sold it after six or eight months on the market for $199,000. Other witnesses suggested that P's personality, unrelated to her sexual orientation, was offensive and responsible for the decrease in business. A number of people found P to be abrasive. The court found that there were two sources of business losses at the Lodge: (1) the letters; and (2) the boycotts related to P's and Swanson's sexual orientation.