JOHN LANSING / ASHLEY MESSNGER / DAVID BODNEY 

Beemsterboer@npr.com MBlock@npr.com EChapin@npr.com ACornish@npr.com SDrummond@npr.com DFolkenflik@npr.com LHodges@npr.com BKelley@npr.com mlouiseKelly@npr.com AFlanagan@npr.com RLittle@npr.com MAnderson@npr.com MMemmott@npr.com JNeel@npr.com SPfeiffer@npr.com MSchwartz@npr.com JShapiro@npr.com GSmith@npr.com LSullivan@npr.com CThompson@npr.com CTurpin@npr.com BVanWoerkom@npr.com VWaltonJames@npr.com AWesterman@npr.com KYoung@npr.com TORT OF NEGLIGENCE Washington DC Washington DC

The 500 Million dollar Tort of Negligence Lawsuit Filed by William Yeager against National Public Radio's CEO John Lansing, NPR attorneys Jonathan Hart and Ashley Messenger includes several NPR journalists.

YEAGER v. NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO et al  EDITH CHAPIN, TERRI MINATRA, CHRISTOPHER TURPIN, ELIZABETH JENSEN, GREGORY A. LEWIS, PAUL HAAGA, JR., JONATHAN HART, MARK MEMMOT,

Case Number:1:2020cv00755

District of Columbia Washington DC- May 18, 2020.

William Yeager and his wife Anais are musicians, filmmakers, actors, activists and humanitarians. Billy Yeager is an Award Winning Songwriter, discovered by Bruce Hornsby back in 1991, Yeager went on to become an Award Winning Filmmaker, producing, directing and acting in his own films which are listed on IMDB. His famous aunt, Bunny Yeager shot the photography for his self produced record albums that were manufactured in limited pressings, Yeager's record albums produced in 1983- and 1985 were already considered collectable by certified record collecting magazines such as Goldmine, after Bunny Yeager passed away in 2014 Yeager's records became even more sought out by record collectors.

The documentary film called Billy Yeager the Ineffable Enigma was released in 2016. The feature film tells the story of Yeager's virtuoso eclectic music and film career while featuring many prominent record collectors from Germany and Japan.

In 2016 Yeager and his wife were involved with over 30 people ( musicians, stage managers, lights and sound crew, catering) preparing for the Yeager's What 4 For? Charity Benefit Concerts that was going to raise money to provide wheelchairs for land-mine victims.

In March 2017, a press release concerning the sale of a record album called 301 Jackson St. was received by NPR from the vinyl record collectors site called Discogs. The following day Discogs cancelled the transaction because they believed it to be fraudulent. Although the press release sent to NPR by Discogs did NOT accuse the plaintiff, in a matter of hours NPR negligently published and broadcast (to over 105 Million People) severe damaging, false defamatory statements (accusing the plaintiff of being a fraud) that incited extremely negative comments and insults from readers permanently damaging an innocent citizen (physical injury, harm to property, psychiatric illness, and economic loss.)

Because of the defamatory article and radio broadcast on NPR's All Things Considered who accused Yeager of being a "charlatan and huckster" the Yeager's Charity Concerts were destroyed.
Andrew Flanagan (the author of the defamatory article) had been hired by NPR only 3 months prior to destroying the plaintiff’s good reputation and 40 year career. Flanagan was fully aware of the plaintiff’s humanitarian work and benefit concerts that were to raise funds to provide wheelchairs for landmine victims in 3rd world countries. Flanagan was completely aware of this because this information was posted on the plaintiff and his wife’s Official websites such as www.billyyeager.com.

The news reached not only to millions of people across the world, but to the plaintiff’s own small hometown (population 900) where he and his wife reside.

Goldmine Magazine (http://www.goldminemag.com/) is the leading source for serious record collectors that was established back in 1974. Head Editor Dave Thompson was one of the 2 people Andrew Flanagan spoke to for his Article. Thompson was interviewed again for another investigative story regarding NPR's defamatory article just a couple of months after Andrew Flanagan's article was published. In this second interview Dave Thompson stated that: “The stories by NPR and Andrew Flanagan were written overnight, in fact, the Discogs’ email came in at 4:00 a.m., so the stories were written very, very, quickly, because I had the NPR one by 9:00 a.m. So yeah, they were done very quickly and probably ..., not making excuses, but you know, no time to contact anyone cause it was so early in the morning.”

In July 2017, Jarl Mohn and the rest of the defendants were informed about what NPR had done to the plaintiff. Not only did they all clearly know that what NPR had done to the plaintiff was seriously wrong, but also they were all aware of the critical state in which the plaintiff’s life and health was. In house attorney Ashley Messenger stated to the plaintiff that NPR was taking him very serious, but their actions prove that they never cared about what NPR had done wrong.
The plaintiff and his wife were in correspondence with NPR’s legal counsel Ashley Messenger for 3 weeks until the plaintiff decided to file his first lawsuit against NPR for defamation.

The lawsuit claims:
    •    The defendants knew and admitted members of NPR’s programming team had committed serious infractions and wrongful actions that had unjustly, negligently, recklessly, and maliciously injured the plaintiff, destroyed his (and his wife’s) reputation, and endangered his life.
    •    The defendants were aware (the plaintiff’s wife informed Ashley Messenger in long letters) that the plaintiff had attempted suicide due to NPR’s wrongful actions and he was under severe emotional distress and depression.
    •    The defendants did nothing to repair the damage and avoid any further harm; NPR even allowed Ashley Messenger to go on a 7 - day vacation in the middle of their communications, while the plaintiff's reputation and life were destroyed, and not a single person was assigned to be in contact with the plaintiff.
    •    Because of this the plaintiff’s health continued to deteriorate, his anguish and rage increased, and he suffered further injury.
    •    As of today the plaintiff continues to be under medical treatment for major depression, suicidal ideation, extreme mood swings, erratic risky behavior and desire to hurt himself and attack those who have abused him, humiliated him, caused him extreme pain, and stripped him
After 3 weeks of corespondence wrongful conduct was fully acknowledged by Ashley Messenger who changed NPR's position on the matter 360% and offered to "fix the situation" by offering the plaintiff to "write his own story" which was nothing more than a deceptive tactic. Messenger even stated that the plaintiff should tell NPR's readers about "you and your wife’s mission to change the world."

The lack of reasonable care and extreme degree of negligence exercised by NPR’s journalists and their superiors was extreme.

Neither the members of NPR’s journalistic and programming teams that participated in the defamatory article and broadcast against the plaintiff, nor the members of the management and corporate (senior leadership) team that were informed by Ashley Messenger (Senior Associate General Counsel) about the wrongful actions and errors committed by NPR’s Andrew Flanagan and Jacob Ganz (and their supervisors and editors) lived up to the most basic standards any media outlet must adhere to.

Flanagan and Ganz’s supervisors are liable for negligence and malpractice (professional negligence) because they failed to ensure the standards of NPR’s Code were met. The CEO and members from NPR’s legal counsel and corporate team are liable for negligence and malpractice (professional negligence) because they were fully aware that NPR had acted with recklessness (with "an extreme departure from the standards of investigation and reporting ordinarily adhered to by responsible publishers”) and that in consequence the plaintiff’s reputation, work, and benefit concerts had been destroyed and the plaintiff had been injured, and they failed to act as they were required by law.

Most jurisdictions say that there are four elements to a negligence action:


1. duty: the defendant has a duty to others, including the plaintiff, to exercise reasonable care,
2. breach: the defendant breaches that duty through an act or culpable omission,
3. damages: as a result of that act or omission, the plaintiff suffers an injury, and
4. causation: the injury to the plaintiff is a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the defendant's act or omission.

The case William Yeager v. NPR is also being produced into a film documentary. Listed on IMDB, the film features many prominent respected journalists. The film follows Yeager's journey to seek justice. The film is slated to be released by Netflix in late 2020.

contact@williamyeagervnpr.com

Producer director Damon Blalack and Gary Brice