Former Norwalk Prosecutor Sues Ex-Girlfriends

Does an ex-girlfriend have the right to tell the world on the Internet that her former lover is a cheater and a liar?

Former Norwalk prosecutor Matthew Couloute Jr. says an ex-girlfriend's statement to that effect is the first thing that pops up when someone googles his name, and his current legal practice is losing business because of it.

So he's suing the former girlfriend in federal court, along with another former girlfriend who he alleges also commented on the website, although she denies it.

Free speech or opportunity to smear?

Couloute says the two lied about him on the website liarscheatersrus.com, a site that some warn is a dangerous tool for someone who wants to spread lies about a former lover. A commentator on the Jezebel website wrote, "liarscheatersrus [...] seems like a great place to smear your ex, whether or not he or she actually did anything wrong."

His lawyer, Louis Zayas, told a television reporter that the two women "don't have a right to defame Mr. Couloute." 

Other observers, including well-known Attorney Gloria Allred, who has applied to represent the women in court, say that anyone who believes an ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend has done them wrong should have the right to make statements about the situation and even warn others.

“The public policy of this nation should be that women have the right to exercise their free speech and should not be silenced and afraid to speak out if they have experiences with men who have lied to them or cheated on them,” Allred said in a Sept. 14 news conference in Manhattan.

Couloute's lawsuit, filed Aug. 25 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, has made a small splash in New York City, where the New York Post, the New York Daily News, a couple of news websites and at least one television station have reported on it. Reports and commentary about the lawsuit also have been published in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Lawyers have commented about the legal ins and outs of the case on the American Bar Association's ABA Journal website.

One side's lying

Amanda Ryncarz of Florida says she posted her statement about Couloute on Christmas Day last year. In part, it said: "[H]e married in City Hall just days after breaking up with his girlfriend of 2+ years. Cheated on ALL of ex-girlfriends. Lied and cheated his entire way through his 40 years of life."

Couloute said in a recent interview with Norwalk Patch, "What she's saying is false."

Ryncarz was someone he dated on and off for about a year, and he was never her boyfriend, he said. The woman he married is someone he's known for 15 years, he said.

Allred said in a news conference in New York that Ryncarz was in a relationship with Couloute starting in about April 2008 and lasting about two years when "they often lived together." Then, according to Allred, just 12 days before Couloute got married, he called Ryncarz to tell her their relationship was over.

Also named in the lawsuit is Stacey Blitsch, another Florida resident. A former member of a roller derby team, she is the mother of Couloute's child. Couloute, who now has custody of the child, accuses Blitsch of also writing statements in the discussion thread that Ryncarz started.

Blitsch denies she wrote anything about Couloute on the website, but Couloute says: "There's a factual basis for that claim [...] We have reason to believe she did post."

Legal details and the bigger picture

Although Couloute says the two lied about him, he is not suing them for libel. Instead his lawsuit alleges "tortious interference," meaning the two women made false, malicious statements that hurt his business. Couloute said the decision about which law to cite is a matter of legal tactics.

Couloute says he also can't sue the website itself: Although it's in the English language, it's registered in Panama, and there are too many legal barriers to filing a lawsuit against it.

Mariann Meier Wang, one of the attorneys representing the two women in Couloute v. Ryncarz et al., has asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming it doesn't meet the requirements of the tortious interference law. One legal commentator agrees, but a judge hasn't yet decided the question. Couloute says he's confident the case won't be dismissed.

Couloute's career has taken him from working as an assistant state's attorney in state Superior Court in Norwalk, until about a decade ago, to a similar post in Bridgeport, then working for the National Football League and the NFL Players Association. He later worked for the United Football League, a feeder organization for the NFL, and most recently, started his own law practice. He has offices in New York City and Stamford, and lives in North Stamford.

His legal practice is wide ranging, including business, family and criminal law. He currently represents a client in Bridgeport charged with murder.

In a statement printed by the New York Post, Couloute wrote that he dated the two women and, as he got to know each one, decided they "weren't the right fit for me."

He added, "Women should never be afraid to speak out. But no one should be able to defame an ex-flame because they're not happy with the way the relationship ended."