Nashville jury awards man in altered pics $150K

A Nashville man with Down syndrome, whose photograph was posted online and years later surfaced with altered text and phrases such as "Sick Retarded Kid," was awarded $150,000 by a federal jury on Wednesday.

Court papers say the image of Adam Holland was taken in 2004, when he was 17 and in an art class. In the original photo, he is smiling at the camera and holding a drawing that included the words "Go Titans."

The picture surfaced online about eight years later. And instead of "Go Titans," the drawing in Holland's hand had been changed to include inappropriate messages.

Larry Crain, the Brentwood attorney who represented the Holland family in the case, and Sara Hart Weir, president of the National Down Syndrome Society, said the jury's ruling could set precedent. States are looking at ways to address what happens when someone's picture is shared without their permission.

"A lot of states are taking a look at changing the law and protecting individuals, not just disabled individuals, whose photos are taken and used on the Internet," he said. Tennessee's Personal Rights Protection Act allows some protections to individuals when their images, name or likeness is used for the commercial gain of others.

Efforts to strengthen the Tennessee law have failed, though Crain said he hopes this ruling will be momentum for change. The Tennessee General Assembly in 2014 considered a bill that would make sharing nude images of someone else a crime, but the bill died. Many other states have made such sharing illegal.

"We're hoping this case will allow us to go to the legislature in January and toughen the law," Crain said.

The jurors found that a photo sharing website, SignGenerator.org, and its parent company, Gigahertz Inc., and a Minnesota resident, Russell LaLevee, both harmed Holland when they distributed the altered image. The website posted the image with the label "Retarded Handicap Generator," and LaLevee distributed it after adding his own text, the lawsuit says.

The jury ordered Gigahertz Inc. of Las Vegas and LaLevee to pay the total $150,000.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Nashville in April 2013.

In 2012, according to court documents, a friend of the Holland family saw one of the photos on a radio station website. It had been altered to show the words "Retarded News" in place of his original drawing and was on a portion of the website used for odd news stories.

Pamela and Bernard Holland, who live in Nashville, said the use of their son's photo on Tampa, Fla., radio station WHPT's "The Cowhead Show" website was malicious and defamatory.

The station is owned by Cox Media Group, which was also sued in the case. Crain said the Hollands settled the case with Cox in June 2013. He said he could not discuss details of the settlement. Court documents say the Hollands first sought $6 million from the company.

Reach Stacey Barchenger at 615-726-8968 on Twitter @sbarchenger. 

Sara Hart Weir, president of the National Down Syndrome Society, testified during the trial as an expert on Down syndrome. She released this statement Thursday:

"This case is precedent setting. At NDSS, we have a zero tolerance policy against stereotyping, defamation and discrimination against people with Down syndrome. All people with Down syndrome are valued members of society and deserve to be treated with the upmost [sic] dignity and respect. We commend the Hollands for their courageous advocacy and for standing up for all families by pursuing this case."