A California man is taking legal action against more than 50 women and suing for $2.6 million in damages after they allegedly shared negative stories about him on an "Are We Dating the Same Guy" Facebook page.
Stewart Lucas Murrey is claiming their reviews were false and defamatory.
The women believe Murrey is using this as an opportunity to intimidate them, and they're asking the courts to shut down the lawsuit.
On Monday, a judge in Los Angeles civil court ruled that one of the women, Vanessa Valdez, did nothing wrong by sharing her opinion of Murrey with the popular online group, according to the New York Post.
Kelly Gibbons, who is also named in the lawsuit, said the first time she saw Murrey in real life was when he personally came to her house to drop off the lawsuit.
"It was pretty eerie. He was filming with his cellphone, walking in. I don't know who wouldn't get creeped out by that," she said.
The women that were called out by Murrey, who alleges they ruined his dating life and damaged his reputation, are hoping that the ruling will set a precedent and prevent him from further using the legal system against them by invoking California laws meant to deter junk lawsuits, called anti-SLAPP laws.
The judge found no evidence of conspiracy and granted an anti-SLAPP motion to prevent any overreach of the legal system to silence the women.
Gibbons posted the original story about Murrey in the Los Angeles chapter of "Are We Dating the Same Guy?" after meeting on a dating app and texting for a few weeks.
She said she spoke with Murrey on the phone before she decided she didn't want to meet him in person after all.
The exchange was so bad that she wanted to warn other women about his rude behavior, emphasizing, "I wouldn't want my friend going out with someone like that."
Shortly after, other women began sharing their experiences with Murray and posted screenshots of text exchanges with him to potentially warn off women.
The "Are We Dating the Same Guy" Facebook group, which started in New York City in 2022, is part of a larger network of groups where women exchange stories about negative dating experiences they've encountered in their cities. Currently, the Los Angeles chapter has approximately 53,000 members.
Sadly, Murrey is not the first man to file lawsuits against women who have voiced their negative reviews on the page.
Nikko D'Ambrosio, 32, filed a lawsuit against 27 women in Chicago in January after describing him as "very clingy" and a ghoster.
