The case was not going well for NBC before it threw in the towel to avoid the April trial. That trial would have been embarrassing for hosts Maddow, Hayes, and Wallace as well as NBC News reporters Jacob Soboroff and Julia Ainsley, MSNBC producer Denis Horgan, senior director of stands and practices Mary Lockhart, deputy head of standards Chris Scholl and others.
The complaint alleged that NBC reporters Jacob Soboroff and Julia Ainsley developed the story on the whistleblower’s claims despite initial skepticism from the network’s standards department.
MSNBC quickly followed with a series of on-air reports in which the doctor was often referred to as the “uterus collector.” The story was based on allegations by “a former nurse at the facility named Dawn Wooten.” Wooten is quoted extensively in the opinion:
We’ve questioned among ourselves like goodness he’s taking everybody’s stuff out …. That’s his specialty, he’s the uterus collector. I know that’s ugly … is he collecting these things or something[?] … Everybody he sees, he’s taking all their uteruses out or he’s taken their tubes out.
Despite misgivings about Wooten’s credibility, MSNBC continued with stories that portrayed Dr. Amin as a virtual Dr. Mengele. Critics charged that the story was irresistible for the channel because it combined reproductive health, immigration, and social equity issues. Whatever the reason, hosts and executives set aside their doubts and ran stories that made Dr. Amin an infamous figure throughout the country.
Judge Lisa Godbey Wood (S.D. Ga.) found that the stories were false in claiming that Dr. Amin performed “hysterectomies that were unnecessary, unauthorized, or even botched.” She also found that MSNBC may have published the reports knowing that the allegations were false or with reckless disregard for the truth.
In granting summary judgment in favor of Dr. Amin, Judge Wood wrote:
Multiple statements are verifiably false. The undisputed evidence has established that: (1) there were no mass hysterectomies or high numbers of hysterectomies at the facility; (2) Dr. Amin performed only two hysterectomies on female detainees from the ICDC; and (3) Dr. Amin is not a “uterus collector.” The Court must look to each of the statements in the context of the entire broadcast or social media post to assess the construction placed upon it by the average viewer. Doing so, the undisputed evidence establishes that multiple NBC statements are false.
The Court emphasized that “it does not matter that NBC did not make these accusations directly, but only republished the whistleblower letter’s allegations. If accusations against a plaintiff are “based entirely on hearsay,” “[t]he fact that the charges made were based upon hearsay in no manner relieves the defendant of liability. Charges based upon hearsay are the equivalent in law to direct charges.”
That can be a chilling standard for the media, which often reports on the fact of allegations that are newsworthy. However, Judge Wood said that NBC went well beyond such a role in this case:
…the focus of these three broadcasts was not on unnecessary or unconsented-to “medical procedures.” The focus was on “mass hysterectomies” and “high numbers of hysterectomies,” performed without necessity and consent, at the facility. This is reinforced by MSNBC’s own headlines: “WHISTLEBLOWER: HIGH NUMBER OF HYSTERECTOMIES AT ICE DETENTION CTR.” and “COMPLAINT: MASS HYSTERECTOMIES PERFORMED ON WOMEN AT ICE FACILITY.”
The court noted that “[w]hile opinions and hyperbole are typically non-actionable, they become actionable when they are capable of being proved false.” That includes MSNBC referring to Dr. Amin as someone known to be a “uterus collector” and “taking everybody’s stuff out” state facts that can be proved false. Judge Wood held that “[t]hese statements are not mere subjective assessments of Plaintiff over which reasonable minds could differ. They are also not simply rhetorical hyperbole or obviously exaggerated statements that are unprovable…”
Under Georgia law, the court held that this met the “actual malice” standard. Given the earlier losses in court, the expectation is that Amin received much, if not all, of the requested $30 million demanded in the lawsuit. It appears that Dr. Amin is now the “damages collector.”