Judge Drastically Reduces Damages Against Mumma

The Judge in Omega World Travel’s defamation suit against anti-spammer Mark Mumma has reduced the damages from $2.5 million to $330,000, according to Omega’s staff attorney John Lawless.

Judge Leonie Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia Alexandria division knocked the punitive damages down from $2 million to $300,000 and the compensatory damages down from $500,000 to $30,000, Lawless said.

He added that though he has a great deal of respect for Brinkema, he disagrees with her on this ruling.

“She’s a very good judge. She was always very well prepared, had read all the briefs before any of our hearings, and was ready to make rulings every time we were in front of her,” he said “But we disagree on what the law says in Virginia pertaining to the modification of compensatory damages. … Nonetheless, I respect her decision.”

Omega executives have a month to decide if they want to accept this ruling or pursue other strategies, such as an appeal, he said.

The ruling is the first remotely positive legal news for Mumma since he began a series of commercial e-mail-related court losses last year.

An Oklahoma appeals court in April upheld a lower court’s ruling to throw out Mumma’s lawsuit against El Chico Mexican Café for three e-mails the restaurant allegedly sent him.

Last November, The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a district court ruling in favor of Omega in a lawsuit Mumma brought against the travel marketer.

Mumma is reportedly broke as a result of his legal expenses. However, according to Lawless, Omega plans to do all it can to enforce the ruiling.