SeanPaul “Long Island Audit” Reyes was handed a significant loss last week as a Florida judge denied his petition for reconsideration and dismissed his amended complaint in his lawsuit against Melbourne, Florida, Mayor Paul Alfrey, leaving Reyes open to Alfrey’s petition for attorney’s fees.
This saga started last year when Reyes made an ill-timed visit to Melbourne on behalf of the ex-sister-in-law of Mayor Alfrey to expose “corruption” she said involving the mayor’s use of a credit card belonging to a roofing business he shared with his now deceased brother.
Reyes’ trip was ill-timed as it happened soon after the death of conservative personality Charlie Kirk. The YouTuber made his speech and exposé of Alfrey’s supposed corruption and his alleged mistress in front of the Melbourne City Council meeting, which was packed with supporters for and against a street to be renamed in honor of Kirk.
The crowd became annoyed at Reyes’ antics when he tried to get another man to give up his time so Reyes could continue hurling accusations at the mayor, and some in the crowd celebrated when police escorted Reyes out of the building.
Mayor Alfrey would make vague comments on his official Facebook page about fans of a New York area social media personality leaving death threats which resulted in Reyes suing the mayor for defamation.
Earlier this year Reyes had his lawsuit thrown out as it was determined that he did not have personal standing under Florida law to file suit. He was informed that he could file suit under his company name, which apparently had standing in the state.
Judge Scott Blaue ruled:
Sean Paul Reyes claims that the name “Long Island Audit” is a moniker for which he goes by, however, this Court finds that because SeanPaul Reyes took formalities such as filing with the New York Department of State, filing separate taxes, opening a separate bank account, and other traditional business formalities, that SeanPaul Reyes and Long Island Audit are separate and distinct from each other as a matter of law, despite being the same person physical person.
The Court has to take and consider Long Island Audit and SeanPaul Reyes as separate and distinct “persons” under the law in determining the proper Plaintiff to bring this action.
Florida Law and Law of the United States of America recognize Corporations as “persons” under the law with its own rights and protections afforded to them outside of the rights and protections afforded to the person(s) who own and run them.
A Corporation must file with the Florida Department of State and register to do business in the State of Florida as a condition precedent to filing a lawsuit in the State of Florida pursuant to Fla. Stat. §607.1501(2)(a).
A corporation must further be represented by counsel who is barred in the state of Florida in order to bring a lawsuit. “A corporation is not a person and, therefore, a corporation cannot designate a non-attorney employee to represent it. Instead, a corporation must be represented by an attorney.” Quinn v. Haus. Auth. of City of Orlando, 385 So. 2d 1167, 1167 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980).
Lastly, the person for which is bringing the lawsuit must be a person authorized to act on behalf of the corporation, which based on the evidence presented is clear here.
Plaintiff failed to provide legal authority or sufficiently pied or present factual evidence either in Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint, or during the evidentiary hearing before this Court on standing to set aside or disregard the corporate entity so as to establish standing as an individual for purposes of bringing forward a cause of action under Defamation based upon the allegations alleged within the Amended Complaint.
Reyes immediately filed a motion to reconsider, which was denied. Alfrey has filed a motion for attorneys’ fees and is seeking a total of $41,163.09 in attorneys’ fees and costs related to the lawsuit.
The YouTuber has previously stated that he will appeal the decision and refile under his company name should he lose the appeal.
This is a developing news story.
