This morning, United States District Court Judge James C. Cacheris issued an order dismissing Fireclean v. Tuohy on jurisdictional grounds. This means that Fireclean could appeal this ruling or attempt to refile the case in Arizona (and, presumably, a separate filing against Everett Baker in New Hampshire) before the statute of limitations expires.
However, this is the third loss in a row for Fireclean relating to this case – denial of their motion for jurisdictional discovery, denial of their appeal of that denial, and the dismissal of the case – with no victories to show on their side over the last four months.
Continuing to tilt at windmills would seem ill-advised in light of this statement on page 25 of Judge Cacheris’ ruling:
“Plaintiff’s theory is that Baker and Tuohy conspired to publish a test that would show FIREClean is the same as Crisco or canola oil, even though they knew the test was inadequate to reach that conclusion, so as to attract more viewers to their blogs. Although such a conspiracy is logically possible, it is not plausible based on the facts in this record. The foundation of Plaintiff’s theory is that a critical review of FIREClean would attract more readers to the blogs. Criticisms of FIREClean being Crisco, however, were already commonplace online due to earlier published statements in the Vuurwapen blog, the Firearm blog, and George Fennell’s publications, among others. The Court finds no reason to conclude that an article affirming the prior tests would attract more readers than results disputing the prior test results.
Furthermore, the record is replete with facts providing non-conspiratorial explanations for why Baker chose the Infrared Spectroscopy and NMR Spectroscopy to analyze FIREClean, including the advice of his professors, his personal research on the best testing methods, his available equipment, and the methods that two individuals with doctorates in chemistry used to test FIREClean. In sum, it does not plausibly or fairly follow from the facts alleged that Baker and Tuohy had a preconceived plan to conduct a fraudulent test so as attract more readers to their blogs by declaring FIREclean to be Crisco.”
Without the support of those who donated to the legal fund – large and small – and the truly excellent work of the legal team at LSKS, this victory would not have been possible. Thank you.
Congrats Andrew, thefirearmblog didn’t exactly enshrine themselves in glory through this debacle!
What do you mean?
“The truth will out” -Arthur Weasley
Congratulations man. I’m so happy you can put this in the past now.
Hell yeah.
These are the types of lawsuits that make me dislike lawyers…and I am a lawyer.
Congratulations! Im glad you had the fortitude and support to defend yourself to the end.
Now that Vuurwapen Blog is no longer distracted by these charlatans, it can start producing the educational videos we all know and love.
Yea! Great news.
Of course doing a review is going to attract more readers to the Blog. That’s why we do reviews!
Where’s the Conspiracy for that?
Congrats, Tuohy.
I hope this won’t deter you or other people from doing this kind of test again.
So happy to hear this news. Maybe a new podcast episode one of these days?
Good news
Congratulations Andrew!
I feel honored to have been part of this in however small a fashion, and stand ready to assist you and Everett again should the plaintiffs refile in the separate States.
It outraged me, Andrew, that they filed this suit despite your repeated insistence that, whatever it was made of, you found it a good lubricant. I may have missed something, but I don’t think you ever posted anything on Fireclean without making that point.
I hope that neither of you are deterred from following the truth wherever it leads. That is the aim of suits like this, and as you have seen, “the process is the punishment.”
I reblogged this at http://www.wyowanderer.com
Congrats!
This is great news. Now Vuurwapen can back to making friends in the industry and Rick Taylor can get back to producing videos that save lives. Seriously though, I am happy for you, hope this is over for good.
Congratulations, sir!
And nothing but crickets from that fanboy, “the teller,” who was probably a FC employee. Congratulations!
Let’s fry some chicken!
It’s always nice to see someone fight the good fight and win.
And all too rare.
Glad the case was dismissed. Sorry you guys had to go through such an ordeal. I hope FIREClean realizes how pathetic their attempt to attack you and suppress your freedom of speech was. I didn’t hear about this controversy until today when I saw the lawsuit was dismissed, and after reading various articles from both POVs, I’m confident you guys did nothing wrong, and definitely nothing worth being sued over. I’ll never use any product sold by FIREClean — not because of your article or study, but because of how FIREClean reacted to a couple of Americans exercising their 1st Amendment rights. I’ve shared the news about this controversy with my friends and family and they all feel the same as I do. Any American who understands and values the Constitution should agree.
I hope FIREClean’s attempt to punish you for exercising your Constitutional rights does not silence you or make you afraid to exercise such rights now or in the future.
Take care.