Cody Pickrodt’s lawsuit against Whitney Taylor, Hazel Newlevant and Morgan Pielli has been settled out of court, with a statement issued this morning by the parties.
Taylor, Newlevant and Pielli were the only remaining defendants in a lawsuit that originally included 11 well known indie comics creators and publishers, including Laura Knetzger, Emma Louthan, Emi Gennis, Ben Passmore, Jordan Shiveley, Uncivilized Books’ Tom Kaczynski, Beehive Press’s Josh O’Neill, and Rob Clough. The eight remaining defendants were dismissed from the suit because they were not under the jurisdiction of the court the suit was filed in back in 2019.
In late 2017, as the #MeToo movement was taking off, Taylor accused Pickrodt of sexual misconduct and others shared alleged negative experiences with him on a Google document and social media. Pickrodt, a cartoonist and the publisher of Ray Ray Books, filed his lawsuit in August of 2018, claiming defamation. Taylor fired back with a lawsuit accusing Pickrodt of gender-motivated violence.
The suit led to many fundraisers for the 11 defendants, including a sizable donation from SPX. The Comics Journal‘s Alec Berry has had excellent coverage of the legal issues in the case from the start — several of his pieces are linked above.
The costs of such lawsuits are immense, however; with this statement, all involved can get on with their lives.
