HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — A jury in South Carolina awarded $50 million in damages to a mayor in a defamation case against a longtime critic.
The Island Packet reports the Beaufort County jury decided Thursday that Skip Hoagland has to pay Bluffton Mayor Lisa Sulka $40 million in actual damages and $10 million in punitive damages.
Sulka filed the lawsuit against Hoagland over emails he sent in 2015 and 2017 to several people, including the state attorney general.
The mayor claimed there were defamatory statements in the messages, such as accusations that she committed a crime and was unfit for office.
Hoagland said the trial’s outcome proved there’s “more corruption” in the state.
