Siobhan Winograd charged the unnamed busybody “Ridgewood Soccer Mom” with “tarnishing” her picture-perfect family’s reputation.Photo: Facebook
Ex-exec sues “Ridgewood Soccer Mom” for ‘tarnishing family reputation’
By Julia Marsh and Josh Saul
March 14, 2014 | 5:19pm
A New Jersey soccer mom is defending her husband’s honor by filing a lawsuit against an unknown woman who badmouthed her youth-coach hubby for “fixing tryouts” and “engaging in misconduct relating to sportsmanship during the season,” a new lawsuit says.
Former Tiffany’s Co. executive-turned-stay-at-home mom Siobhan Winograd charged the unnamed busybody – named in the suit only as “Ridgewood Soccer Mom” – with “tarnishing” her picture-perfect family’s reputation “within their small community” and stirring “up public contempt for [her] and her family.”
Attorney Michael Winograd and his wife started volunteering for their 10-year-old son’s traveling soccer team in 2011 and have been subject to a pattern of anonymous harassment ever since, the Manhattan Supreme Court suit says.
“Defendants filed anonymous written complaints with the village travel soccer organization claiming that [Winograd’s] husband had fixed the tryouts for the team,” the suit states.
https://nypost.com/2014/03/14/ex-exec-sues-soccer-mom-for-tarnishing-family-reputation/
These anonymous snipes can come back to haunt you. I have warned people before. Posting anonymous is not license to post lies. Good for these people for standing up to someone’s online lies.
Nice work Ms. Winograd. I would think the embarrassment of your ridiculous law suit and the publicity that is creates is far more damaging to your husband (and yourself) than any e-mail alleging what we all assume happens in Ridgewood youth sports anyway (i.e., back room deals). Just another black eye for Ridgewood that makes us all look like crazy, entitled nut jobs. You should go back to work, or if you really need something to do in your spare time . . . join the suit to continue the delivery of lunches to our schools.
And this person sent an email to the coach’s company? He was asking for a lawsuit. Some people are just crazy about their children’s sports. By high school soccer sucks and most students focus on other sports or getting good grades.
I am guessing that the dimwit thought that calling himself “ridgewoodsoccermom” he would make everyone think he was a woman.
Ms. Winograd is an intellegent women (she has a degree in engineering from Lafayette and was the Director of Tiffany’s Engineering Department). She presently runs her own company so, #2, I don’t think she has that much time for trivial lawsuits. I don’t know the Winograd’s but I’m guessing the harassment reached such a level that this was the only avenue left for them to pursue in order to stop the harassment. I’m sure that they would have preferred not to go public with this.
Really, the story came from the NY Post.
#2. So I guess your kid was cut too? Dust yourself off and move on.
Unless you are the target of the, lawsuit you should be happy that they are shining a light on the dark side of anonymous postings. It is about time someone stood up to anonymous lies.
Just a reminder of Blog Policy , “anonymous posts” do not protect you from law enforcement , you are not a “protected source” ,your IP and comments will be turned over immediately upon request . Those IP’s can be traced back from the very founding of this blog .
Law enforcement would of course need some type of probable cause , to deter information “fishing expeditions” . Attorneys understand they would need a court order in most cases , unless we notice a pattern of maliciousness and inaccuracy by a certain poster. Another words if we know you and we do and think you are acting like a “Jerk” , we will turn over your information no questions asked.
Remember “Anonymous posts” are available to well meaning individuals looking to disseminate information , voice their opinion and avoid retribution , not to hide bad behavior .
While I feel bad for this woman and her need to file suit, I do have to say that the coaches, trainers and officials with Maroons do rig some tryouts and movement between teams. It does reach ridiculous levels. I saw it happen just this week.
My favorite Maroons “tryout” story is from last year. My daughter’s team was called to an extra “practice.” Some girls — including my daughter — were told it was a tryout. Some weren’t. My daughter made the team, but the girls who weren’t told were cut. Karma caught up to the coaches — our team was awful this year.
And the Lax daddies don”t control the team placements? I look at the man who ruined lax (and football) for so many boys, his son barely plays on the high school team. People used to suck up to him, now no one cares.
But I would not complain about him by name, he is too small to bother with. And I would never contact his employer, rational people know where to draw the line. My son is still happy and life is good.
I agree that I would never contact someone’s employer. But I would also say that you have to stay anonymous with Maroons. They will blackball a kid if the parent says anything.
Good for you #9. There is more to life. Your son is happy and life is good that’s what counts.
I do not agree with the method, but I understand parents who get upset at the way the maroons are run. We were just talking last week about finding another club team for our kids. There’s just too much smarminess. I want my kids to learn to play and enjoy the game, but the organization and the coaches make that hard.
Agree with #10. I once was an asst coach. A parent wrote something on a survey that wasn’t so terrible, but the head coach said the kid would never play on his team again. The kid didn’t.
The thing that sets these parents off, I think, is that the president of the Maroons pretends everything is so above-board when it’s not. Do not agree with the emails, but agree that the situation can cause rage.
There are a lot of club teams in the area that offer better development for players. Maroons are just easy because they are in town. More competitive teams abound.
And the hollywood wannabe posts it on facebook as if it were some inside joke. These parents have a right to sue. They are not “bad parents”. The real joke is that she made a movie on the subject.
This lawsuit makes her look ridiculous.
The lawsuit will make all internet trolls think twice.
so you better be carefull
#19 And those who provide the platform.
“Website hosts may be liable for defamatory material created by someone else but which they host. “
whats the matter getting nervous?
No worries
There’s a big difference between ‘opinion’s’ and ‘slander’.
If someone makes a statement about a particular individual that is false and or defamatory, I’d say they could be liable for it. (one would have to prove damages in court and that’s a difficult and expensive task)
A ‘public person’ *elected official, govt employee* vs a ‘private person’ also has certain definitions and parameters of what is acceptable and expected to be written about them.
If I recall, one of the earlier online blogs set a legal precedent where online posters could state opinions, but not false accusations and slander.
The blog owner was sued and the problem there…and im not 100 percent certain…had to do with his editing of posts or selectively allowing some posts and not others vs. allowing all posts.
It was “emerson eye’ or ‘eye on emerson’… something along that name.
I’m confused about what #21 thinks should make people nervous. That people have differing opinions than him or her?
You certainly don’t want to do what we did. After several years of complaining to the organization about the coach of the “A” team, a MAJORITY of the player parents had a 2d meeting with the head of Maroons (a different guy each time). He talked big but did nothing. The result – – the coach stayed on, but not a single child of the parents present at the meeting was on the “A” team for the next year. The worst part – the new “A” team stayed in the same flight and those players had to deal with losing every game the next year. This coach had only a personal agenda in mind, not the kids interest in the game or even their self esteem. Don’t subject your kids to Maroons. There are plenty of alternative organizations, and your kids will still make friends and have fun playing soccer.
#9, funny you should bring up the lax situation. Actually, two of the “unhappy parents” DID cross the line. One published a tell-all article on a prestigious business site and the other sent an email to a parent admonishing her for not upholding her “professional duties” because she was supporting the coach.
Like you said, rational people know when to draw the line. They didn’t.