Effective October 1, 1999, Carlos Cantu (CEO of Terminix and its parent company, ServiceMaster) stepped down and was replaced by C. William Pollard.  On October 4, 1999, the ServiceMaster companies made another attack on my First Amendment rights when, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, The ServiceMaster Company, The Terminix International Company L.P., Trugreen Limited Partnership, American Home Shield Corporation, and Amerispec, Inc., filed suit against me in Civil Action No. 99 2866 TU V, Complaint for Trademark Infringement, Dilution, False Designation and Representation of Origin, False Advertising, Deceptive Trade Practices, and Unfair Competition.

This was obviously another SLAPP suit, this time brought in a state and court without anti-SLAPP protection against frivolous, abusive lawsuits -- a state 2,000 miles from my home.  I had absolutely no doubt their sole intent was to intimidate me into removing this web site; and if that failed, to take me to court and again run me out of money with legal expenses to the point where I would have no legal defense and would lose the suit by default. If they had succeeded, the web site would have had to be removed and would have set a dangerous precedent for other cases to come.

Fortunately for me and for the preservation of freedom of speech rights, Ralph Nader’s group, Public Citizen, agreed to represent me.  This would not have been possible without donations to Public Citizen, and I sincerely thank those who have generously made donations on my behalf.  Paul Levy of Public Citizen became my attorney; as well as attorneys who volunteered to represent me -- Lucian Pera and Brian Faughnan of Armstrong Allen in Memphis, Tennessee, and Thor Urness, a trademark specialist from Boult, Cummings, Conners and Berry in Nashville, Tennessee.  I also had help from David Greene of the First Amendment Project; Charlene Cunniffe of Boult, Cummings, Conners and Berry; and from Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Watch. Without the benevolence of these people, I definitely would have lost the case by default; this web site would be gone; and I would undoubtedly be turning my paychecks over to the ServiceMaster companies for the rest of my life.

I am eternally grateful for the rescue provided by the aforementioned people, and also owe a debt of gratitude to several people within the media for reporting what one reporter later called a “slash and burn legal assault.”

• “Terminix Suit Aims to Mute A Web Critic.” Richard B. Schmitt, Wall Street Journal, Dec. 3, 1999.
• Dan Adams, local Channel 10 News.
• “Search Engine Lawsuits O’Plenty.” Search Engine Report, Dec. 6, 1999.
• “Pest Control - Could a trademark lawsuit filed by Terminix silence Web criticism of corporations?”  Jim Hanas, the Memphis Flyer, Dec. 16-22, 1999.
• “Consumer Group Helps Citizen Control Legal Pest.” Blazing Tattles, Vol. 8, Nos. 10 & 11, February 2000.
• “Ex-customer’s Web site stings Terminix.”  Rob Johnson, The Commercial Appeal, Feb. 27, 2000. (Archived article that will cost to print.)

60 Minutes contacted me and Terminix about doing the story.  A week was scheduled to shoot the interviews.  However, on March 8, 2000, after filing a document with the court in which the ServiceMaster companies complained about the adverse publicity the lawsuit received and about my strong legal defense, the ServiceMaster companies voluntarily withdrew their lawsuit “without prejudice” (they can re-file if and when they desire). 60 Minutes apparently decided not to do the story, but CNN and others did:

• “Terminix parent kills suit against Net critic.” Rob Johnson, The Commercial Appeal, Mar. 11, 2000. (Archived article that will cost to print.)
• “Site No Longer Bugs Terminix.”  Craig Bicknell, Wired News, Mar. 11, 2000.
• “Woman fends off suit -- Nader group aids Sutter resident.”  Harold Kruger, Appeal Democrat, March 14, 2000.
• “Consumers fight corporations on Web, but protests costly.” CNN -- Headline News, Science and Technology News, and CNN.com Mar. 17, 2000 post.
• “Welcome to the world of free-speech exterminators.” Robyn Blumner, the St. Petersburg Times, Mar. 19, 2000.