Claiming invasion of privacy and humiliation, a staff attorney for a United States senator has filed suit against a woman who published details of their sexual relationship on her blog, or web log.
Robert Steinbuch, a counsel for Republican Senator Michael DeWine, filed the civil suit on Monday against Jessica Cutler, whose brief employment on DeWine’s staff was terminated by revelations about her graphic journal of her sexual escapades.
Writing under the nom de plume “Washingtonienne”, Cutler last year briefly kept an X-rated online diary of her simultaneous relationships with up to six men around town, including an unidentified Bush administration appointee.
Steinbuch was not identified in the diary, but he claimed in the suit that Cutler’s use of his initials, “RS”, first name and other details made him “clearly identifiable”.
“Cutler’s outrageous actions, setting before anyone in the world with access to the internet intimate and private facts regarding [Steinbuch], constituted a gross invasion of his privacy,” the suit said.
“The widespread public dissemination of private facts have caused [Steinbuch] to suffer severe emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment and anguish,” the suit added, requesting unspecified damages.
Since gaining notoriety as “Washingtonienne”, Cutler has signed a book deal for a reported $300 000 (R1,9-million) advance and posed nude for Playboy magazine. — AFP