A southwest Ohio man has settled a lawsuit he filed against his Republican state senator, who he says blocked him on Facebook during a heated debate about the veto on the Heartbeat Bill abortion ban in December.
Sen. Joe Uecker had posted he was disappointed the veto wouldn’t be overturned, and his constituent Anthony Fambry of Batavia posted that the Heartbeat Bill was unconstitutional. Uecker fired back that Fambry needed to lose his emotions, and Fambry says he was blocked and his comments erased.
“I couldn’t believe it. I was talking to a senator. I was being formal and professional, and I just got removed, silenced, and effectively told I couldn’t participate anymore in the conversation.”
Fambry says he filed the suit for others who were blocked, and also for future constituents.
“I was really looking forward to set that precedent of ‘you can’t just block people on social media as a government official’.”
The settlement award was $20,000, but Fambry says after legal fees he’ll get $1,000. But he says he’s getting calls from throughout the state from people who’ve also been blocked by their lawmakers, who are asking him for advice and the number of his attorney.
