Newport Beach : Antique Dealers File Suit Against Museum
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A husband and wife team of antique dealers from Los Angeles filed a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court on Thursday against the Newport Harbor Art Museum, its council, two of its members, and two examiners it hired for an antique show, claiming that they were defamed when the examiners told a news reporter on Sept. 19, 1984, that one of their pieces was “an obvious fake.”
Mark and Barbara Hitt claim in their lawsuit that the damage to their reputations forced them out of the antique business after the examiners’ comments were printed in the Los Angeles Times. They are seeking $5 million in punitive damages.
The lawsuit claims the examiners were not qualified to pass judgment on the antique pieces at the show.
In addition to the museum, the lawsuit was filed against its council, council members Gay Bryant and Nancy Foerster, and the two examiners, Patrice Pinaquy and Marie Carty, both of Santa Barbara.
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