Tampa Radio: Cox WHPT Sued Over Website Photo

A Cox Media station promoted news reports on its website with a photo of a young man with Down syndrome, altering it to show him holding a sign saying "Retarded News," his family claims in court.

What's more, the Cox station in Tampa, Fla., WHPT 102.5 FM The Bone, admitted what it did in a letter to a friend of the family who complained about it, according to the federal complaint.

Adam Holland and his parents Bernard and Pamela Holland sued Cox Media Group dba WHPT-FM.

They also sued Russell LaLevee, and Dave Brown dba Gigahertz Inc. aka Sign Generator, claiming they altered and used the photo on their own websites, also with "retarded" slogans.

According to a story by  Iulia Filip for the Courthouse News Service. all the defendants used altered photos of Adam on their websites without authorization, with defamatory and offensive captions, the family says in the complaint.

Adam Holland, then 17, attended an art class at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center in Nashville in July 2004, where an instructor took a picture of him holding up a drawing he had made, which is included in the complaint.

The color photo shows a smiling Adam holding a sheet of paper with two sticklike figures on it, and the words "Go Titans One." The next page of the complaint shows a nearly identical color photo, altered to eliminate the stick figures and with the sign saying, in bold capital letters, "Retarded News."

The Hollands say they discovered the altered photo in 2012.

They say Cox's Tampa radio station had altered the photo and used it on its website as a logo for funny news, which it called "The Cowhead Show."

Cox Media Group owns and operates 19 TV stations, 87 radio stations, eight daily newspapers, and many other publications and digital services.

On July 22, 2012, plaintiff Pamela Holland received an email from a friend, Dave Davis, attaching a copy of an email that had been posted on the Facebook page for the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign," the complaint states. "One of the campaign's supporters, Erin Hinz, had received an email from Michael Sharkey, the Program Director of WHPT-FM in Tampa, Fla.,

He offered the following explanation and motivation for posting the altered photograph of Ms. Holland's son, Adam: 

"'Erin, 

"'My name is Michael Sharkey, I am the Program Director of WHPT-FM in Tampa, Fla. and Cowhead's boss. I received your email from our corporate office and wanted you to be aware of the action steps we have taken. 

"'The segment "Retarded News" is designed to highlight odd stories that are seemingly always in the news. Stories such as botched bank robberies and failed crimes. These stories are NOT about disabled individuals. However, in our investigation, we noted the picture that he was using did denote a person with Down syndrome. We have removed that picture from our page and we are removing any reference to handicapped or disabled individuals. 

"'I apologize for any grief this might have caused. Thank you for your well thought out email, insight into Down syndrome and bringing this to our attention. 

"'Best, Michael Sharkey.'" (Email addresses of Pam Holland and her friend deleted.)

The Hollands seek compensatory and punitive damages for invasion of privacy, misappropriation of likeness, defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress.

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