Man settles suit against f.y.e. over check allegedly posted on Twitter

MARTINSBURG – A Jefferson County man has settled his lawsuit that alleged a music store employee mockingly tweeted a picture of a check he wrote to the store that contained confidential information.

Rudolph L. Ferguson filed his lawsuit against Record Town Inc., doing business as f.y.e., in Berkeley County Circuit Court on Dec. 4. He alleged Reid Carper, an f.y.e. employee, mockingly tweeted a picture of a check he wrote because he misspelled the word “ten.”

But also on the picture were Ferguson’s address, phone number, bank account number and routing number, the complaint says.

“Images and messages posted by Mr. Carper on his Twitter account are also generally available and broadcast to the public, and therefore, his posting of Mr. Ferguson’s check was viewable by hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people.”

Nothing was filed in the case after the complaint until a June 17 dismissal order that noted the matter had been fully settled and compromised. Terms were not disclosed.

Ferguson alleged he bought something at f.y.e. in late 2011 and accidentally wrote “teen” instead of “ten” on the check.

Later, Carper allegedly posted the check to his Twitter account with the “mocking” message “Found this one on my phone, look how he spelled 10. #teeen”.

Carper had more than 150 followers at the time, the suit says.

Ferguson made a claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress against Carper, and made claims of negligence and invasion of privacy against both defendants. He said f.y.e. had a duty to avoid publication of confidential information.

Ferguson was also seeking punitive damages, alleging extreme recklessness, gross negligence and malicious indifference.

He was represented by Brenda Waugh of Charles Town and Ben Crawley-Woods of Martinsburg.

From the West Virginia Record: Reach John O’Brien at jobrienwv@gmail.com.