Community Corner

Margaret Stefanoni Files Defamation Suit Against Darien Little League [Updated]

Stefanoni alleges that the league published false statements about her during a dispute over her son's Little League placement.

Update, 12:06 p.m.

"The suit is meritless and we expect it will be dismissed," said Tom Luz, general counsel for Darien Little League.

"Margaret Stefanoni told The Darien Times that the head of Little League punished her son as a result of her political activities," Luz added. "That statement was and is false. We stand by the comments in our letter to the editor."

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Original Article:

Margaret Stefanoni, the developer who accused Darien Little League last year , is taking aim at the organization again — this time in the form of a libel suit.

Find out what's happening in Darienwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In a 12-page complaint dated Jan. 20 and filed with the Superior Court in Stamford, Stefanoni alleges that the league defamed her on three occasions by "characterizing [her] as a liar" with respect to claims she made during the dispute over her son's divisional placement.

"As a direct and proximate result of Defendant’s defamatory statements, Plaintiff has suffered emotional distress and damage to her reputation," the complaint reads.

Specifically, Stefanoni asserts that the league libeled her by calling her statements "categorically false" in a Sept. 18 statement to DLL parents and "demonstrably false" in a Sept. 23 letter published by the .

The suit calls for relief in the form of a retraction, which would be published in a letter to the editor, an email to DLL parents, and a statement on the league's website. Stefanoni, who is representing herself in the case, is also seeking nominal damages of $1.00.

"All I am asking for is a dollar and a retraction," Stefanoni said in a statement. "An apology months ago would have sufficed. The facts are on my side. I did not lie nor am I crazy." 

The original dispute , when Stefanoni's son — having "played up" in DLL's Minor League Division during the spring — enrolled in Darien's Fall Ball program. Though he was initially placed in the top-tier Yogi Berra Division, his parents were later informed that he would play in the younger Goose Gossage Division instead.

League officials said that the switch was simply the product of a policy change: in order to accomodate a significant rise in enrollment, officials had decided to place all fourth graders — including Stefanoni's son — in the younger division. 

But after fighting the decision, Stefanoni and her husband, Chris Stefanoni, accused officials of violating Little League policy and intentionally snubbing their family. 

The couple claimed that the move was made, in part, because of the proximity of their unpopular to the property of former DLL board member Mark Gregory. (A sister proposal slated for Tokeneke Road  Tuesday by the Planning and Zoning Commission but approved with extensive modifications.)

That accusation, repeated in the complaint, was emphatically denied and dismissed as "nonsense" by the league in September.

"Mark Gregory was a former board member. [But] nobody has spoken to Mark Gregory regarding the Stefanonis, period," a DLL official said at the time.

In response to Margaret Stefanoni's allegations — first published in a Times article about of Darien's inclusionary zoning regulations — the league submitted a rebuttal letter to the paper.

"Our sport is baseball, not politics," the Sept. 23 letter read. "The fact that Stefanoni implicated the Little League in some half-baked conspiracy theory is disappointing."

But Stefanoni's complaint states that her accusations were true and that the league's letter wrongly damaged her credibility, "an integral part" of her interactions with the town's planning boards and commissions. It describes the DLL's "half-baked" line as "characteriz[ing] the Plaintiff as crazy and/or drug-induced."

The filing also states that the league falsely questioned Stefanoni's integrity in a Sept. 18 statement emailed to parents and published on the organization's website.

In that message, DLL described as "categorically false" Stefanoni's claim that "her son was the only child affected by a sudden policy change that forced him to move two levels down in the league."

Tony Farren, president of the DLL's board, declined to comment on the matter Wednesday evening. He directed inquiries to Tom Luz, the league's general counsel.


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