School Official Loses Claim over Fake MySpace Page

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (CN) - A vice principal who was the subject of a fake MySpace page did not make an emotional-distress case against the students who created the account, the Texas Court of Appeals ruled.

Benjamin Schreiber and Ryan Todd designed the page to look like it was created by vice principal Anna Draker. It included her name, photo and place of employment, as well as graphic sexual references.

Draker sued the students for creating the page and their parents for failing to supervise their children's Internet use.

The trial court dismissed Draker's defamation complaint, and because defamation was the gravamen of her lawsuit, Judge Angelini ruled that she could not use the intentional infliction of emotional distress as a gap-filler.

"To maintain a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, Draker was required to allege facts independent of her defamation claim," Angelini ruled.

Angelini also denied Draker's request for a continuance for further discovery.

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