Embattled Publisher Files Defamation Suit, Asks for Help

Boca Raton publisher Howard Needle says he has filed a defamation lawsuit against a former employee who told The Juice that Needle hasn't paid her for her work at his magazine.Needle called me this morning to ask for help with his suit -- he wanted copies of blog items we've...

By Eric Barton

July 6, 2009

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Boca Raton publisher Howard Needle says he has filed a defamation lawsuit against a former employee who told The Juice that Needle hasn't paid her for her work at his magazine.

Needle called me this morning to ask for help with his suit -- he wanted copies of blog items we've written about him. "They won't print, so I need copies," he said. Needle threatened to include us in the lawsuit unless we agreed to make him copies of the articles. "Are you going to make me subpoena you?"

He explained that the copies were necessary to prove that former employee Rosalie Farnsworth defamed him when she claimed she wasn't paid for her work on the now-defunct magazine Cravings Palm Beach. He said he needed us to make the copies because he couldn't figure out how to print them online without "cutting and pasting."

In May, Needle was also accused of threatening to kill a woman he feared was going to spoil his electronic cigarette business.

Needle wouldn't go into specifics about the defamation suit. "All misleading. Defamation of character," he said. When pressed more, he replied: "Are you going to make these copies for me?" When I declined, Needle politely ended the phone call.

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