Civil Rights

Overcoming Hate

In spring 2017, American University student Taylor Dumpson was elected by her peers as the first black female student government president in the school’s history. But she was never able to fully take the reins as student body leader of the private Washington, D.C., university.

The day after her inauguration, nooses were hung around campus with bananas tied to them, which sparked the ensuing online troll storm. In particular, three people — neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin and two other individuals — were among the most egregious figures encouraging people to harass Dumpson online with thousands of racist and hateful messages, leading her to shut down all of her social media accounts.

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Following the incident, Dumpson, who was already considering a career in law, decided to pursue an internship with the Washington Lawyers’ Committee, which partners with individuals and communities facing discrimination and with the legal community to achieve justice. As she learned more about laws governing civil rights, Dumpson realized she might have a claim against the online trolls; however, a big hurdle would be filing within one year of the statute of limitations.

That’s when a team of Kirkland attorneys stepped in to help.

Race Against the Clock

Kirkland worked with Dumpson, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and 364 days after the incident occurred, the team filed a series of claims and a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the most egregious actors.

Among the attorneys that took on the case was Washington, D.C., litigation partner Ragan Naresh, who coincidentally lives just four houses down from American University’s campus and walks through it every day to bring his daughter to school.

“There were two very novel things we were arguing in the case,” Naresh explained. “The first was finding that a private university is a place of public accommodation, and the second was whether exclusively online behavior can violate both tort laws and civil rights laws.”

With the case moving forward in summer 2018, one of the defendants reached out through counsel to Dumpson’s legal team with hopes of coming to an agreement. In what was considered a landmark settlement, the defendant agreed to make a personal apology to Dumpson, renounce hate speech, undergo counseling and enroll in school to study civil rights and race issues, and provide full insight into the inner workings of the alt-right group in which he held a high-profile role.

Securing Justice

After the settlement, the attention was focused on the other two defendants, and in August 2019, the court found both of them liable and agreed with Kirkland on all counts. Dumpson was awarded over $100,000 in compensatory damages, $500,000 in punitive damages and permanent injunctive relief. The ruling was historic in that it marked the first time a court has deemed racist online trolling as an activity that can interfere with a person’s equal access to a public accommodation. Additionally, Anglin’s website, which was the biggest neo-Nazi blog in the country in terms of readership, was frozen.

“This was a cloud hanging over Taylor’s head in ways that are hard to imagine,” said Naresh. “Getting that kind of result for her was incredibly meaningful to all of us. When you’re able to achieve an outcome that your client never thought was possible, it’s a great feeling.”

Washington, D.C., litigation associate Erin Quick, who began working on the case as a summer associate in 2018, was grateful to make an impact so early in her career.

“I had the opportunity to work on the case as a summer associate, and it was a great way to get experience doing meaningful work right from the start of my time at Kirkland,” said Quick. “It was inspiring to work with talented attorneys who cared deeply about getting justice for Taylor.”

Dumpson went on to graduate from American University and is currently enrolled in law school.