Dr. V's magical putter

I know my questions are tough to answer since this is an open forum that can be easily searched by Google, but if she was not breaking the law, I would be afraid of the coming suit if I were Grantland. I could be wrong, but that would be my first concern.

You also need to have a heart, which I know goes against my lawsuit post. When I was in college, I did a gay rights story that had a number of people speaking in a public forum. Well one woman, who was a student, said she was gay, did not want to be and had tried taking a Roman Bath before over it. Back at the paper I see the page one art, and it's her. I know we had every right to run the art, but I called her to make sure she was ok with it going on page one and me including the details. She was. But if she was not I would have fought hard to keep her picture off 25,000 copies in six hours and edited my story. I was more worried about the art.

 

http://deadspin.com/how-grantland-screwed-up-the-story-of-essay-anne-vander-1505368906

This weekend, Gerri Jordan, proprietor of Yar Golf, agreed to speak with me about the chain of events that led to the October suicide of her partner, Essay Anne Vanderbilt. Today, she declined to carry through. "I have spoken with an attorney," she wrote in an email, "and we are gathering information for potential legal action."

 

I don't doubt a lawsuit is coming, but what would they sue over?

 

Dr. of what?

Shouldn't it just be "V" and not "Dr. V" or am I missing something?

Should Vanderbilt be referred to as she? Sure.

But as Dr.? I'm not so sure.

 

I could file eleventy lawsuits this afternoon if I wanted to. Doesn't mean I have a hope in hell of winning any of them.

The acid test isn't whether Vanderbilt was "breaking the law" or engaged in fraud. Had Grantland published the story while Vanderbilt was alive, Grantland might have crossed the line w.r.t. the "Publication of Private Facts," but the story was published after her death.

 

Wasn't the "Publication of Private Facts" found through public or open records, though?

 

The writer doesn't reveal EXACTLY how he connected Stephen Krol with Vanderbilt.

 

"She worked as general manager at Trax Bar and Grill, an LGBT bar in Kent, Washington. She was the subject of three separate harassment claims from her time there, including one from a male coworker who said she made “inappropriate comments about her breasts and genitalia.” She moved to Arizona again sometime later. She met Gerri Jordan. She built a putter. She met Gary McCord. She told me the focus should be on the science and not the scientist."

I'm pretty sure these are those claims:

http://dw.courts.wa.gov/index.cfm?fa=home.namelist

Court: King Co Superior Ct
Case Number: 04-2-35174-0
Link: http://alturl.com/8mg9h

Court: King Co Superior Ct
Case Number: 04-2-35185-5
Link: http://alturl.com/jexfg

Court: King Co Superior Ct
Case Number: 04-2-36912-6
Link: http://alturl.com/g9xev

No logins or backdoor ways to get to any of them. The "dw.courts.wa" allows anyone to search. Pretty public info.

JAN. 22 EDIT: The bankruptcy case.

From the grantland article:
"Vanderbilt didn’t win her case. And in 2011, a civil court in Maricopa County, Arizona, ordered her to pay nearly $800,000 to a commercial developer."

https://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/docket/CivilCourtCases/caseInfo.asp?caseNumber=CV2010-019609

Case Information
Case Number: CV2010-019609 Judge: Vatz, Benjamin
File Date: 6/15/2010 Location: Downtown
Case Type: Civil eFile

$789,339.05 in principal amount, $513.20 in one-time court costs to be exact.

 

Well done, CKY. All reporters should know how to search public records.

Then there's these two cases, from the same link:

They're not online, but it certainly wouldn't be hard to pull those case files.

 

Not sure what's up with the "12-02-2011" case. That's more than 8 years after she legally changed her name.

 

This link below:
http://www.intelius.com/background.php?ReportType=8&qf=Essay&qmi=A&qn=Vanderbilt&qa=&qtickler=1&qcs=Arizona&searchform=background&focusfirst=1

Says Essay Anne Vanderbilt, 60, Bonney Lake, Wash.

Address History: Ravensdale, WA -- Higley, AZ -- Gilbert, AZ

While this one:
http://www.intelius.com/background.php?ReportType=8&qf=Stephen&qmi=&qn=Krol&qa=&qtickler=1&qcs=AZ&searchform=background&focusfirst=0

Does NOT say Stephen J. However, it does have age (60) and connection to Philadelphia (birthplace) and also mentions Bonney Lake. ALSO mentions the very same "Ewa Kroll" mentioned in story.

Again, both links public info. No payment/login needed.

 

Still, do those public records definitely make the Krol = Vanderbilt link? I guess what I am getting at is that there is probably a wealth of public information about Krol, and a wealth of public information about Vanderbilt. But public information about Vanderbilt having been Krol (and male) at some point, I wonder about that.

As I pointed out, however, I would assume at worst Grantland's exposure is of the "might have" variety.