SEATTLE _ A Vancouver, Wash., woman is suing the Seattle alternative weekly newspaper The Stranger and one of its former photographers over a photo that ran in the publication last year that she claims showed her bare breast, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in King County Superior Court.
Tamar Hage, who says in her lawsuit that the photo ran without her permission, was alerted to the photo's publication by friends, family members and former co-workers who saw her featured in the newspaper's "Drunk of the Week" column.
Hage further alleges the newspaper lied when it claimed the photo was of another woman and then fabricated evidence to conceal its misconduct, the lawsuit says.
In its answer to the suit, attorneys for Index Newspapers _ The Stranger's parent company _ deny that Hage is the subject of the photo that was published Dec. 2 in the now-defunct column. The newspaper also denies Hage's allegations of deception and claims that any injuries or damages result "from her own negligence or fault."
Kelly O'Neill, a former Stranger staffer, took photos and wrote the weekly column that humorously documented nightlife and drunken antics beginning in 2003. Her last "Drunk of the Week" column ran in February.
According to both the lawsuit and the paper's response, O'Neill is no longer employed by The Stranger. The circumstances surrounding her departure are not explained in the court record.
Efforts to contact O'Neill were not successful Monday, and it is unknown if she has retained counsel. As a named respondent in the suit, O'Neill has 20 days from the time she is served to file a reply. Though Index Newspapers filed its reply Friday, O'Neill has yet to do so, court records show.
Jessica Goldman, the attorney representing Index Newspapers, referred questions to the Stranger's general manager, Laurie Saito, who did not return a phone call Monday.
Hage's lawyer, Seattle attorney Paul Fogarty, did not respond to a request for comment, and an attempt to reach Hage was also unsuccessful.
Hage is seeking unspecified damages for invasion of privacy, defamation, infliction of emotional distress and false light _ which basically means publishing a materially false statement that would be highly offensive to a reasonable person.
The photo and accompanying text has been removed from the Stranger's website but is referenced in the lawsuit.
Hage's lawsuit says the photograph published by the Stranger shows her face and breast. Her nipple was redacted in the paper's print version but was shown online, according to the suit.
The text that ran with the photo indicates the photo was taken at "a last-minute Thanksgiving" gathering that "got a little weird" after "Peppermint Patty" and her friend "Snoopy" imbibed Champagne, whiskey and "mystery punch," then hammed it up for the camera, says the lawsuit, quoting the column. It concludes, "What a joy to see TWO nipple slips instead of just one!"
Hage, in her suit, also disputes the Stranger's contention of when the photo was taken. She says that she was in Pittsburgh on Thanksgiving 2015, celebrating her grandmother's 90th birthday, and that she was not drunk during the holiday, according to the suit.
After contacting the Stranger within days of the photo's publication, Hage received an email from Saito, who wrote that the photograph was actually of a Michigan woman, the suit says. Though agreeing Hage bears "a striking resemblance" to the woman, Saito assured Hage "it is not you" in the photo, the lawsuit says.
Saito included a redacted copy of a release form, purportedly signed by the Michigan woman authorizing the Stranger to publish her photo, according to the lawsuit.
But Hage further alleges that a photo Saito sent her of the Michigan woman was actually a photo of another woman who was friends with O'Neill, the lawsuit says. That woman also denies signing a release and said at the time she was being treated for breast cancer, had yet to undergo reconstructive surgery, and so "could not have been the subject of a photograph depicting a bare breast and nipple," Hage's suit says.
Hage claims "the abusive, embarrassing and humiliating Drunk of the Week piece" and the Stranger's "deceptive conduct" has caused her emotional distress and she suffers physical symptoms as a result of that distress, the lawsuit says.
