Lawrence v. Gilby's Pizza Craven, L.L.C.

── Lawrence v. Gilby's Pizza Craven, L.L.C. ── Court: Ohio Court of Appeals Date: May 15, 2026 Author: Myron Duhart Category: General [Cite as Lawrence v. Gilby’s Pizza Craven, L.L.C., 2026-Ohio-1797.] IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT HURON COUNTY David Lawrence, et al. Court of Appeals No. H-25-025 Appellees Trial Court No. CVH 2025-486 v. Gilby’s Pizza Craven LLC., et al. DECISION AND JUDGMENT Appellants Decided: May 15, 2026 ***** Bryan Lamb, for appellees. Brian Donnamiller, for appellants. * * * ** DUHART, J. {¶ 1} This case is before the court on appeal from the October 2, 2025 judgment of the Huron County Common Pleas Court. Because the trial court failed to hold a hearing, as required by statute, we reverse and remand for further proceedings. Assignment of Error The trial court committed a revers[i]ble error in finding that Chapter 2747 was inapplicable to the claim of defamation as asserted in the Plaintiffs/Appellees’ Complaint.  Background {¶ 2} On July 21, 2025, appellees, David and Donna Lawrence, filed a complaint alleging that they executed a “Purchase Agreement” with appellants, Gilby’s Pizza Craven LLC and Bradley Gilbert, whereby appellees were identified as the sellers and appellants were identified as the purchasers, and that controversies had arisen regarding the purchase agreement. Appellees’ complaint includes a claim seeking a declaratory judgment that the purchase agreement is void and an order for appellants to vacate the premises (Count 1), a claim for defamation (Count 2), and a request for emergency injunctive relief “ordering [appellants] to cease posting false and defamatory statements online, or anywhere publicly, regarding [appellees’] businesses and personal information” (Count 3). The defamation claim includes the following allegations: 23. [Appellees] own and operate the business Scoops and Brews located at 78 Benedict Ave., Norwalk, Ohio, which is next door to Gilby’s Pizza Cravin.1 24. Scoops and Brews was opened at its location in March, 2025. 25. In April, 2025, [appellants] began posting online commentary to the Facebook page “the real talk of Norwalk” about [their] frustration with [appellees]. 26. [Appellants] falsely and recklessly made statements about the damage to the property at 64 Benedict Ave., and the nature of the part[ies’] conversations regarding the property. 27. Subsequently, the public seeing [appellants’] Facebook posts wanted to know the identity of the [appellees] and a copy of [appellees’] identity, businesses, and personal address were posted [on] the “real talk of Norwalk” Facebook page under [appellants’] comments. 28. On April 17, 2025, the undersigned counsel mailed a cease-and-desist letter to [appellants] demanding [they] stop the above harassing and defamatory behavior. . . . 1 We note that Craven is sometimes spelled Craven, and sometimes Cravin. In our quotes, we have used the spelling used by the parties. 2.  29. However, [appellants] continued to post false statements to the public online Facebook page regarding [appellees]. 30. Public responses to [appellants’] posts clearly show that [appellees] lost business at Scoops and Brews because of [appellants’] online comments. 31. Members of the general public have come to [appellees’] business, Scoops and Brews, questioning [appellees] about Gilby’s Pizza Cravin, the building at 64 Benedict Ave., Norwalk, Ohio. 32. [Appellants] published