A defamation lawsuit involving a former city of Aiken official has been settled.
Tim O'Briant's lawsuit against Don Moniak and his company, Eureka Research LLC, settled last week, according Aiken County Court of Common Pleas records.
O'Briant is a former Aiken Standard editor who became the city's communications manager in 2017. He was later promoted to economic development director before resigning last year.
Eureka Research LLC is a South Carolina limited liability company formed Aug. 17, 2022. Moniak is the company's registered agent at an address north of Interstate 20 in Aiken County.
O'Briant's attorney, John Harte, confirmed late Monday evening that the lawsuit was settled ahead of a May 6 trial date.
The client felt it was best to move on, Harte said.
O'Briant made the decision after being hired as Pickens city administrator Jan. 8 and Moniak's Nov. 3, 2023 deposition, Harte continued.
To prove defamation in South Carolina, a plaintiff must show that a false statement made by the defendant and communicated to a third person damaged the plaintiff's reputation, former Chief Justice Ernest Kinney Jr. wrote in 1998.
It would have been difficult for O'Briant to argue his reputation had been damaged when he got another job a month after leaving the city of Aiken – Pickens city administrator – and his new job carries more responsibilities than his previous one.
Moniak said in his deposition that he and his wife own a home valued at $143,000, that he drives a 2002 Honda Civic and has less than $50,000 in retirement accounts, leaving anyone with a judgment against him unable to collect.
Harte filed the lawsuit on O'Briant's behalf April 27, 2023.
O'Briant cited two examples of defamation in the suit: an interaction that occurred during and after the April 10, 2023 city council meeting and a Feb. 17, 2023 email sent to officers and employees of the city.
On April 10, 2023, Moniak alleged O'Briant had committed a form of identity theft when O'Briant filled out a city Freedom of Information Act request form in order to provide Moniak with information Moniak requested.
On Feb. 17, 2023, Moniak alleged O'Briant was a liar: "I have accurately documented Mr. Tim O'Briant's lies."
Moniak filed a response to the lawsuit and a motion to dismiss around a month later.
Harte called Moniak's response and the motion to dismiss "incoherent ravings" and asked the court to strike them from the record.
"They are nothing more than a thinly veiled effort to attract media attention and gain publication of lies about the Plaintiff [O'Briant], other members of the government and the lawyer who is representing the Plaintiff," Harte said.
