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00:00You are the president of the Tenants Association.
00:04He clearly doesn't like you.
00:05I heard him screaming about me, saying that I do whatever I want.
00:09Ruining my reputation.
00:10That's his opinion. Let somebody else be president of the board.
00:13I really enjoy my work.
00:15Well, this is part of your job. You have to deal with people who disagree with you.
00:18This is Judy Justice.
00:54This is Judy Justice.
01:00You are the president of the Tenants Association where you live.
01:03Correct.
01:04Mr. Rittenberg lives in that community.
01:07Yes, ma'am.
01:08How long have you been president of the association?
01:10Ten years now.
01:12And Mr. Rittenberg, how long have you lived in that community?
01:14June of 2021.
01:16It is your claim, Ms. McNulty, that the defendant defamed you.
01:21And some nonsense about an assault where you weren't injured at all,
01:26where the defendant allegedly grabbed a wallet out of your hand,
01:31a checkbook out of your hand.
01:32I'll hear that, but it's actually nonsense.
01:36Your claim for defamation, however, I will hear.
01:39I would like to know what you claim he said about you,
01:44how he said it, how he published it.
01:48He sent out mail with self-addressed stamped embellish to come back to him
01:52to every person in the building.
01:54Do you have a copy of that letter?
01:56The first one, no.
01:58If you don't have a copy of that letter, it doesn't exist.
02:01Do you have a copy of the second one?
02:02Yes.
02:03I'd like to read it.
02:15Okay.
02:16Well, this is a letter that he sent out as treasurer of the association,
02:20and he's questioning the last voting procedure that was held in the association.
02:26And there's nothing defamatory in here.
02:30It gets worse.
02:31There's nothing defamatory in here.
02:32He's questioning some of the things that he claims occur during the election process
02:37that were not according to regulations, both association regulations and HUD regulations.
02:47So he's claiming irregularities, and he's sending this out to the people at the end.
02:52He's requesting that Margo, which would be you,
02:55adheres to established rules and regulations,
02:58including making all board meetings open to tenants and complying with federal guidelines
03:03to ensure fair and transparent elections.
03:05And he cc'd somebody from HUD and SFHA.
03:12San Francisco Housing Authority.
03:13Okay.
03:13And that's not the first one that he put out.
03:15Well, that's okay.
03:16He's allowed to do that.
03:17He says here a couple of things.
03:19He makes some statements.
03:20He says, Margo, that's you, counted the votes prior to depositing them in the ballot box.
03:25And that's a lie.
03:26Now, Mr. Rittenberg.
03:28Yes, ma'am.
03:28What evidence do you have that the plaintiff counted the votes prior to depositing them in the ballot box?
03:36Well, I have witness accounts, people that were at the meeting.
03:40You weren't there.
03:41No, I wouldn't.
03:42Do you have a witness here?
03:43Yeah, Stacey was at the meeting.
03:46Okay.
03:46Your last name is?
03:48Stacey Cole.
03:49Ms. Cole, this says that Ms. McNulty, at the last meeting, this is dated July of 2024,
03:57counted the votes prior to depositing them in the ballot box.
04:01Did you witness that?
04:03No, ma'am.
04:04Did Ms. McNulty ever tell you that she counted the ballots prior to putting them in the ballot box?
04:11No, ma'am.
04:12Sir?
04:13Apparently, I had the wrong information.
04:15Good.
04:15Now you can sit down.
04:17Okay.
04:17Thank you very much.
04:20Margot controls the keys to the ballot box.
04:23Do you control the keys to the ballot box?
04:24There were no keys to the ballot box, and we couldn't use it that day.
04:27We had to make a pile in front of the ballot box, so no.
04:31Okay.
04:32What else did he do to defame you, Ms. McNulty?
04:36He put out that I was late for a meeting for SFHA, so that...
04:41May I see what you're talking about?
04:42I'm hoping he has it, because that's actually the first one.
04:44No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, madam.
04:46I didn't think I'd be telling him, so...
04:47He doesn't have to prove anything.
04:48This is your case.
04:50You have to prove that he defamed you.
04:54I can prove...
04:55This further backs up my story.
04:57Well, tell me what it is.
04:58This is something that he accompanied in the surveys that he sent out in the self-addressed
05:04stamped mailings, which were like three waves of them so far.
05:08May I see...
05:08In the sense...
05:09Okay.
05:10And in every language, too.
05:14And he'd poster the walls with it as well.
05:16Just a second.
05:20Okay.
05:20Well, this is his opinion.
05:21If you were present at either meeting, you witnessed Margot's disrespect for the bylaws and rules
05:26and what she thinks of us and how she disregards your rights as members of the association.
05:31I do not disregard their rights.
05:33Well, that may be.
05:34That's his opinion.
05:35That's what he thinks.
05:36All right.
05:36My report I sent in the survey, I said Margot and Z had arrived 20 minutes late.
05:40The truth is there is no official notation of the time they arrived, but it was after the
05:45meeting was called to order.
05:46I was inaccurate by stating that they arrived 20 minutes late.
05:49I don't know how many minutes late they arrived.
05:52It was wrong for me to make this statement with no facts, and I apologize to Margot.
05:57Moving forward, I promise to be factual and truthful and stick to the facts, especially
06:01when reporting back to tenants.
06:03Did you write this so?
06:05Yes.
06:05The apology, yes.
06:06Yes.
06:06Okay.
06:07Because you were wrong that she arrived late.
06:09Yes.
06:10Okay.
06:11He said he was wrong.
06:12He apologized for it.
06:13What's next?
06:13It's a sarcastic apology, but-
06:14What's next?
06:15Okay.
06:15He's doxed my personal correspondence.
06:18He what?
06:19Doxing.
06:19What is that?
06:19You know doxing?
06:20It's when you share correspondence that's supposed to be private with other people.
06:24What private correspondence are you talking about?
06:26All my texts.
06:27Your texts to whom?
06:28Texts to various people.
06:30He's put them on together and handed them out.
06:34Just a second.
06:35These are texts that evidently people who you sent texts to share them with him?
06:41I know.
06:42Well, then somebody gave them to him.
06:44Then somebody shared them with him.
06:46Then they are no longer your personal texts with somebody.
06:49Well, it's the private integrity that you expect privacy in your conversations and there's no integrity or public trust.
06:56If you sent a text to somebody, he can't go into your computer and hack your computer and take out
07:06those texts.
07:08He's not permitted to do that.
07:09But if the person to whom you corresponded voluntarily gave those to him...
07:16He can't share that, can't he?
07:18Yes, he can.
07:21He can say, I think she is the worst president of the Tenants Association.
07:27That's his opinion.
07:28He can't say, Miss McNulty robbed a bank in 1967.
07:34Unless you did.
07:45Margaret McNulty claims her neighbor, Angel Rittenberg, owes for defamation, harassment, and assault.
07:52Angel is countersuing Margaret for defamation and the costs of mailing residents.
07:57Okay, Miss McNulty, I want to explain something to you.
08:01If you send someone a letter, I send a letter to Sarah.
08:05It's a private letter.
08:07If Sarah decides to share it with Whitney, and Whitney says, look, I got this letter from Sarah that I
08:16got from her.
08:16I didn't hack anything.
08:18I didn't steal her mail.
08:19And she says, I'm going to show this letter to Kevin.
08:22She can do that.
08:23Your private communications?
08:25I just explained it to you.
08:26Yvonne, I'd like to mention that, even though these are just a couple of the things that we're mentioning so
08:30far,
08:31that there was an instigating point in this, like something that started all this,
08:34with his hate mail against me, which you haven't concluded yet, I understand.
08:39Well, I haven't seen it yet.
08:40So far, what I've seen is sort of benign.
08:43It's somebody on the board who, for some reason, doesn't like the president of the board,
08:48or doesn't like the policy, or doesn't like the presentation,
08:53and he's communicating with the rest of the tenants.
08:56And so far, I haven't seen anything defamatory.
08:59There was a candidate that came recently to our building,
09:01and we wanted to celebrate them or give them a platform to speak to the tenants.
09:05And I heard him in front of everyone screaming about me,
09:09saying that I do whatever I want, ruining my reputation.
09:12And he's gone so far as to government agencies, to this candidate.
09:16I mean, I'm a political, I'm starting my political career now.
09:19He's allowed to express his opinion.
09:22He's not allowed to say anything that's untrue, that's not an opinion.
09:28He can say, I think she is the worst president of the tenants' association that you could ever elect.
09:36That's his opinion.
09:38He can't say Ms. McNulty has a venereal disease.
09:43He can't say Ms. McNulty robbed a bank in 1967, unless you did.
09:50He can't say Ms. McNulty kills animals in her apartment, unless it's true.
09:57He can't say things that are not his opinion that aren't true.
10:01So far, he said, she does whatever she wants to do.
10:05That's his opinion.
10:06He sends out notices to tenants.
10:09When he gets it wrong, he said, I think I got it wrong.
10:12He clearly doesn't like you.
10:14Clearly.
10:15Okay.
10:15That's not a crime.
10:16You just stated that he's not allowed to put out lies about me,
10:18that first letter that you were reading.
10:20If you go on there, there's everything there is a lie,
10:23and I can prove that things are lies.
10:26Like what?
10:26You know, he can have his own opinion, but he's taking things and...
10:29I would like you to read it to me.
10:31Tell me if this is your exhibit.
10:33Tell me what it is.
10:40The board has been replaced with members Margot has chosen
10:44and who are aligned with her actions,
10:46potentially allowing unchecked control over decisions,
10:50including financial matters.
10:51That's his opinion.
10:52Yeah.
10:53Go ahead.
10:53Okay.
10:53There's a lot to say that.
10:55Scheduling appears to have been structured to support an agenda
10:58aligned with the needs of the...
10:59Also his opinion.
11:00Okay.
11:00Appears to have been structured.
11:01Also his opinion.
11:02Okay.
11:03This violates your rights to fair election.
11:05He's going on and on about this election being fair,
11:08where we covered everything by the book.
11:10That's his opinion.
11:11Then he can say, isn't that a lie, though?
11:13No, it's not a lie.
11:14It's his opinion.
11:15He thought the election was unfair.
11:17Okay.
11:17He's done this hate mail campaign to people that it makes a difference for my future.
11:21I've started a company that's educating the subsidized housing board of officers.
11:28So?
11:29And training.
11:29And so he's disparaged my reputation.
11:31Show me.
11:32You tell me that he's disparaged you by saying things that were a lie to a governmental agency.
11:39You mean the fact that he CC'd HUD?
11:42The fact that he went to HUD for even this printout.
11:44That's okay.
11:45He can do that.
11:46He can just go around and ruin my reputation for people.
11:49What he's doing is he's sending a copy of this letter,
11:52and there's nothing defamatory that you've proven in this letter,
11:57and he sent it to HUD, H-U-D.
12:00That's the mayor's office of housing.
12:02He's allowed to do that.
12:03Okay.
12:04I didn't finish on these.
12:05It gets worse.
12:06Well, I want to see them, madam.
12:07That's why you're here.
12:08So far, I've looked at them, and it is clear that he doesn't like you
12:14and thinks that you're not doing a proper job.
12:17In your job as president of the association.
12:20He's allowed to feel that way, and he's allowed to voice his opinion about that.
12:25He's not allowed to say things about you that are blatantly a lie.
12:31This is his opinion.
12:32He thinks the election is unfair and skewed to your people.
12:35Well, that's his opinion, and you can't prove otherwise.
12:38He may not be able to prove it, but that's his opinion.
12:41And having lived in many buildings with many, many boards,
12:44I can tell you that you feel that way about some.
12:47You feel that way about others.
12:48You feel some are behaving properly in everybody's best interest.
12:53You think some people are acting like dictators when they're president of the association.
12:58You think that some mishandle elections by scheduling them at an inappropriate time.
13:04You think all of those things.
13:05That's your opinion, and you're allowed to write that down.
13:07And if it's hurtful to you, and if you feel as if it's hurting your reputation,
13:12and if being the president of the board has become too onerous a situation for you,
13:18let somebody else be president of the board.
13:20I really enjoy my work.
13:21Well, this is part of your job.
13:22You have to deal with people who disagree with you.
13:24Okay.
13:25That's it.
13:26So none of these things.
13:28That runs with it, unless you have something else to show me.
13:31Well, things that are his opinion are one thing,
13:33but these things that he has that are not true.
13:36Like what?
13:37Like that we didn't check the ballots for...
13:39How do you know?
13:40I have the proctor's signature, notarized statement about that everything went according to the rules.
13:46I'll hear that witness.
13:47She was afraid to fly, so...
13:49Okay.
13:49We hear the assault.
13:51Well, I hear the assault.
13:52There was no...
13:52I'll see the medical records.
13:54No, it wasn't that.
13:55I'll see...
13:56It was humiliation in front of my members and tenants in Ferganeo and...
13:59There's no...
14:00Hostile.
14:01You have to understand that there is no crime of humiliation.
14:04You had an argument with him and he pulled a checkbook out of your hand.
14:07That's what happened, according to you.
14:09That's correct.
14:09That's not a crime.
14:10I mean, if you went to medical treatment because you hurt your finger...
14:14I broke my finger now.
14:15All right.
14:15Let's get real.
14:17Well...
14:17All these things add up.
14:18This is his counterclaim.
14:20You have no case.
14:21Comes with the territory of being president of a tenants' association.
14:25Some tenants like you and some tenants don't.
14:28I've never been foolish enough to be president of a board.
14:32I have enough trouble just having this job.
14:37Margot has blatantly disregarded my preference when it comes to my name.
14:42Not a crime.
14:43You know, if I sued everybody that called me another name, I would be busy from now until
14:49she receives AARP letters.
15:02Margaret McNulty is accusing her neighbor, Angel Rittenberg, of ongoing defamation and
15:09an assault.
15:10Angel is counter-suing, claiming Margaret owes for defamation and mailing expenses.
15:15Now, sometimes it's a thankless job.
15:18People usually like it because they like power, you know.
15:21I live in Florida.
15:23I've been in lots of buildings with all of them had boards and all of them had presidents
15:28and everybody votes.
15:30I could actually never understand it, but I'm grateful for some because associations need
15:35somebody to keep the place organized.
15:37But you're always going to find people that disagree with you and don't think you're doing
15:41a good job.
15:42Well, there is something I...
15:42You have to forge on.
15:44Can I just make one point about this?
15:46Because I inadvertently, innocently put something out about him and his name, he just started
15:52this campaign of everything that's going against me.
15:54So it's actually snowballed in directions that have taken it to other places.
15:58Maybe they're not here to testify.
15:59But it was not done maliciously at all.
16:03He just had such sensitivity to it that he took it out of me.
16:06I've read the papers and I've read the fact that the kerfuffle started because Mr. Rittenberg
16:12likes to be called by another first name other than his given name at birth.
16:18And you posted something that used his given birth name instead of the name that he prefers
16:23to be called.
16:24Am I correct?
16:25Yes, ma'am.
16:25Okay.
16:26Not a major geschichte, but evidently clearly bothered you.
16:29Yes.
16:30The fact that I innocently put that out without doing it on purpose.
16:34I don't know whether it was innocently or not.
16:36That's your statement that it was innocent.
16:39Intent and impact.
16:40In the scheme of life, Mr. Rittenberg, somebody called you by the wrong name.
16:45It's not the end of the world.
16:47No, ma'am.
16:47It's not.
16:48Okay.
16:48And I assume that that's not, it shouldn't be the reason that you have taken on Ms. McNulty
16:55in her job as president of the association.
16:58But so far, there is nothing defamatory that I have seen that you wrote about her that is
17:04actionable.
17:05Okay?
17:06That's it.
17:07I'm done with you.
17:08Okay.
17:08I'm done with you.
17:10Now, Mr. Rittenberg, I'm going to deal similarly with your countersuit, which I'm going to read.
17:16Margot has blatantly disregarded my preference when it comes to my name.
17:20Not a crime.
17:22Not a crime.
17:22You know, if I sued everybody that called me another name, I would be busy from now until
17:28she receives AARP letters.
17:33She has acted in her own self-interest on the board.
17:37Also, not a cause of action, sir.
17:40I'm reading your claim.
17:41In order to assist my neighbors to make the right decision, I mailed out information regarding
17:45Margot that she wasn't openly sharing and she should have.
17:49You're talking about all this stuff that you mailed out.
17:51Right.
17:51So...
17:52Okay.
17:52So you mailed it out.
17:53Yeah.
17:53And it was part of her duty to be transparent.
17:56And since she wasn't, she should have to incur all the costs that I incurred sending out
18:03all this stuff.
18:03That's what your case is.
18:05Yes.
18:05Do you know what I think about that, sir?
18:07You probably don't like that.
18:08No.
18:08Yeah.
18:09You're absolutely right.
18:09So your counterclaim is dismissed.
18:12We're done here.
18:12That's fine.
18:13Have a pleasant evening.
18:14Goodbye and good luck.
18:15Live in peace.
18:16May I ask for expenses for sending out the letters to residents notifying...
18:21Just a second.
18:22I just said to you...
18:23Notifying them of the irregular election.
18:25I just said to you, it's ridiculous.
18:27Okay.
18:28If you want to send out letters, you can send out mass mailings to whoever you like.
18:32But that's not your responsibility.
18:34And if you choose to act as an independent person and send out mail, that's not her responsibility
18:39to pay for it.
18:41Because in your mind, you say, she's supposed to be transparent.
18:44You want to do that?
18:45That's fine.
18:46Nobody's going to pay for it but you.
18:47You want to be good, Sam?
18:49Do it.
18:50What I'm telling you is, sir, life is short.
18:52You're fine.
18:53If you think that's...
18:54It's so important.
18:56I know you don't like it, but I didn't want you to leave before you heard.
18:59We're done.
19:00I caught him in a lot.
19:00Whose court is a jury?
19:05Well, I think it was unfair.
19:06I really appreciate the judge's decision to dismiss the whole thing.
19:11I just think pettiness.
19:13Honestly, it was a bunch of hot air.
19:15We could get along, but he's not, like, in a circle anymore.
19:20I just wanted this thing to be over with so we can all go back to living in peace.
19:26Well, the only way to deal with a non-actionable cause of action is to dismiss the case.
19:30I'm just surprised that you listened for that long, knowing that there was no cause of action.
19:35But maybe in all that paperwork, we were hoping there would be something as we got through.
19:39She was offended.
19:40And to her...
19:41Being offended.
19:42Being offended was a sufficient cause for defamation.
19:46He's entitled to have his opinion as treasurer.
19:50He didn't come from off the street.
19:52He's part of the association.
19:54At least he was.
19:55And he's allowed to have an opinion as to whether she's doing a good job, whether she controls the board,
19:59whether she fixes the election time that's inconvenient.
20:02He's allowed to have an opinion about all these things.
20:06The thing is, I think he started with her because she called him by the wrong name.
20:11Sure.
20:12I think it escalated from there.
20:13But my sense is that all these people who were here from the building, they have sides.
20:18They either side with him or they side with her.
20:20That's what happens when you live in a building and you get too intimate.
20:24I know you and I have both dealt with New York City co-ops and we just sign our papers,
20:28send them back.
20:29We want nothing to do with the meetings and the board and the voting.
20:33We say, you know what?
20:34Whoever's super involved, you guys just take the reins on that.
20:39You're devoting your time.
20:40That's my belief, at least.
20:42Well, that's what we've done.
20:44But you do need people.
20:46Oh, of course.
20:46It's an important job.
20:47A governing body, and you hope that you elect people that are doing it for all the right reasons, not
20:54for themselves, not for the power, but to do good work for the place where they live.
21:01I have a feeling with this lady, it's a whole bunch of stuff.
21:04But that's why it's very important to vote and to have your say.
21:07If it is very important to you, like it seems to be to the defendant, that's your next step, not
21:12wasting all your time sending out these letters and then expecting to get paid for.
21:18And then getting, wanting to get paid for the postage.
21:21Yes.
21:21I think that's ridiculous.
21:24Are you a victim of an assault?
21:26Go to JudyJustice.TV.
21:30Go to JudyJustice.TV.
21:31Go to JudyJustice.TV.
21:56Go to JudyJustice.TV.
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