Lawsuit filed against Southern Nevada eBay buyer dismissed

By Steve Green

Friday, Oct. 1, 2010 | 12:04 p.m.

A lawsuit against a Southern Nevada woman claiming she publicly disparaged an eBay seller — a suit attracting the attention of eBay merchants nationwide worried about their own reputations — has been dismissed due to the defendant's bankruptcy.

Kristy Cunningham of Henderson, also known as Nikki Foote, was sued in Clark County District Court in June 2009 after allegedly posting on eBay a note claiming the Gucci handbag she purchased for $495 was a fake.

The sellers, Faris and Ruhanieh Badi’i of Austin, Texas, insisted in their lawsuit the bag is authentic and said the comments hurt the eBay trading business that is their livelihood.

A Las Vegas attorney for Cunningham, Julie Sanpei, filed a response in December denying the allegations and stating: "Defendants did not either knowingly, in reckless disregard or negligently make an allegedly false allegation against plaintiffs."

The Badi’is dropped their suit last month after Cunningham filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in April, saying she was unemployed and listing Ruhanieh Badi’i as among her numerous unsecured creditors owed a total of $130,000.

In total, Cunningham listed assets of about $195,000 and liabilities of about $528,000.

Faris Badi’i said in an interview Friday that he and his wife considered pursuing the case against Cunningham as a creditor in her bankruptcy case, but decided against that in part because of the additional legal costs that would be involved.

He said the Badi'is feel justice hasn't been served given the alleged harm to their business, but that at least they've raised awareness about the issue.

"It has made people think about it before they make a false accusation,'' Faris Badi'i said.