Cease-and-desist letter issued by Greenville School District

A Williamsville, Mo., man has been issued a cease-and-desist letter, urging him to "immediately cease making defamatory statements" against a local school official.

The letter, from Mickes Goldman O'Toole LLC, is addressed to Brian Becker on behalf of Greenville superintendent Todd Porter. It says failure to immediately cease making defamatory statements "may result in legal action against you."

"It has come to Mr. Porter's attention that you have been making statements about him which are defamatory in character and which are wholly false," the Oct. 1 letter says. "You are targeting Mr. Porter in his profession by imputing fraud, misconduct and lack of integrity to him."

Specifically, the letter points to comments about Porter's ethics in hiring an unnamed employee, and alleges Becker told others in the community things of a personal nature about Porter that were untrue.

"This statement is wholly false and was made with malice and a reckless disregard for its veracity," the letter says. "Such statements constitute slander per se, and must cease immediately."

The letter explains that in Missouri, "a defamation action can be pursued against one who communicates a false statement that is harmful to another if that person intends for the false statement to result in harm or recognizes or should recognize that it is likely to do so."

"We are hopeful that this correspondence will alert you to the fact that your recent statements are of significant concern and that you will refrain from making such false statements in the future," the letter says. "If, however, you do not cease, the district and Mr. Porter reserve the right to take all necessary legal actions including, but not limited to, filing a civil defamation complaint and/or seeking injunctive relief."

Porter has worked for Greenville schools for 13 years and is in his first year as superintendent. He was unavailable for comment about the letter.

In a PDF of the letter posted by Becker to the open Facebook group Greenville R2 School Board Observations, Becker added a note saying he never made any statements regarding Porter's personal life.

"Though I am aware of rumors, I am not the source, originator or perpetuator of those rumors," Becker wrote. "I am already on record with the school board alleging my belief that Mr. Porter's recent hiring actions were unethical, but do not believe my words can be construed as slander. Therefore, I cannot cease or desist that which I have not done."

In the posting in which he shared the letter, Becker stated he spoke with Mickes Goldman O'Toole lawyer Betsey Helfrich, who drafted the letter.

Becker later said in a phone interview he was surprised when he received the letter.

"I certainly wish that somebody from the school would have called and said, 'Hey, are you saying these things about our superintendent?' and I would have said, 'Absolutely not,'" Becker said. "Why that phone call was never made, I don't know.

"It is certainly a lie I spoke those things or that I spoke them with malice," Becker said. "I haven't said anything with malice or with a reckless disregard for veracity. We disagree with how things were handled this summer, and I thought it was over and then I got this letter."

Becker also said he was under the impression school board members knew Porter planned to speak to a lawyer, but not that a letter would be drafted.

Helfrich emphasized in a later phone interview the district has no plans to take further action since sending the letter earlier in the month.

"Since then, it's died down, and we're just trying to keep focusing on educating the kids," she said. "We're hoping to move forward. I don't think the school will take any legal action.

"I've talked to Mr. Becker, and I think it's going to be a nonissue," Helfrich said.

Pertinent address:

Greenville, Mo.