Kootenai County sheriff sued for defamation
COEUR d’ALENE — A woman has filed a lawsuit against Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris and the county government, alleging that Norris defamed her at a campaign event. Norris has denied the allegations.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in district court by Coeur d’Alene resident Pennie Collinson, alleges that Norris made vulgar sexual remarks about Collinson to a crowd of people at an April 24 candidate forum in Cataldo. The lawsuit accuses Norris of allegedly saying that Collinson, who was present at the forum, likes to “photograph child pornography at the local library.”
Included in the civil complaint were statements from several people who attended the forum and supported Collinson’s description of what happened.
The witnesses alleged that Norris described to the audience how he had removed several books from the Post Falls Public Library last fall that he said contained sexually explicit material. He then allegedly pointed out Collinson in the crowd, called her by name and made vulgar sexual remarks about her.
“I was in shock and was feeling so confused because I just could not understand what was happening,” Jennifer Noel wrote in a statement filed with the lawsuit. “The room seemed to gasp in unison and then the room briefly went dead quiet.”
Norris vehemently denied the allegations Wednesday and suggested the lawsuit is politically motivated.
“The claims are 100% false and are nothing more than local-level lawfare to create doubt and uncertainty regarding my character and reputation,” he said in a statement issued by the sheriff’s office. “In my 30-plus years of impeccable public service, I’ve never been accused of any wrongdoing, corruption or sexual harassment until I decided to run for public office.”
The lawsuit, which seeks damages in excess of $10,000, contends that Norris’ alleged remarks at the forum and subsequent public comments about the matter have caused Collinson to suffer severe emotional distress, which has manifested as “headaches, loss of sleep, anxiety, nightmares, post-traumatic stress, night sweats and nervous tics.”
In July, Collinson filed a tort notice of tort claim against Norris and Kootenai County, which said damages for emotional distress, reputational harm, public disgrace and ridicule and damages to her photography business total more than $500,000.
The civil complaint pointed to a news release about the allegations published by the sheriff’s office in late July, which described Collinson’s claims as “frivolous” and “100% false.” In the same release, Norris offered a $10,000 reward for video evidence of Collinson’s allegations.
Collinson contends that the news release contained “false and defamatory” information about Collinson and her tort claim, constituting “a personal attack which publicly portrayed her in a false light as being dishonest.”
In addition to monetary damages, Collinson is seeking an injunction requiring Norris and Kootenai County to remove “any and all false and defamatory statements” about Collinson from any website, social media platform or other publication and barring the defendants from publishing or directing others to publish “any further false and/or defamatory statements” about Collinson.
Collinson has been sued for defamation twice, both times in 2020. Both lawsuits were resolved through mediation and subsequently dismissed.
In one case, the plaintiffs accused Collinson of making false and defamatory statements about a nonprofit that advocates for stronger animal cruelty laws in Idaho. In the other case, a Kootenai County woman accused Collinson of making defamatory remarks about her and impersonating her on social media in order to damage her reputation.