Jury finds woman did not defame Minneapolis dance instructor with MeToo post

A Hennepin County jury found that a woman’s social media post accusing a Minneapolis dance instructor of sexual assault was not defamatory because her statements were true.

The lawsuit concerned a Facebook post written by Kaija Freborg in 2020 that was inspired by the MeToo movement. The post accused dance instructor Byron Johnson of sexual assault. Johnson sued Freborg, saying her post was untrue and he had suffered because of it.

Last September, the Minnesota Supreme Court determined in a split decision that the post was a matter of public concern and had heightened protection under the First Amendment. However, the court could not determine whether Freborg’s post was true or not and thus could not determine whether it was made with actual malice, so they sent the civil case back to district court for a jury trial.

“I’m thrilled for my client,” Freborg’s attorney Natalie Cote said. “It has been four years since she posted this and a lot of hours in a legal battle. For a jury to come out and say she was telling the truth, it was a total vindication for her.”

Calls and messages to Johnson’s attorney were not immediately returned.

The jury was asked to determine two elements of Johnson’s defamation claim: Was Freborg’s post false and, if it was false, did Freborg act maliciously by posting her accusation on social media?

They ultimately didn’t consider the second question because they ruled that the post was true.

On July 14, 2020, Freborg had tagged Johnson and two other Twin Cities dance instructors in a post on Facebook, accusing them of sexual assault.

“Feeling fierce with all these women dancers coming out. So here goes ...,” Freborg wrote. “I’ve been gaslighted/coerced into having sex, sexual assaulted, and/or raped by the following dance instructors: Byron Johnson. ... If you have a problem with me naming you in a public format, than perhaps you shouldn’t do it #metoo #dancepredators.”

Two days later, Freborg edited the post to say, “I’ve experienced varying degrees of sexual assault,” explaining in the post that “words like rape from a white woman can be triggering for a black man.”

Johnson commented on the post, writing in part, “This is a very serious accusation which I categorically deny.”

Johnson and Freborg had a casual sexual relationship after they met in 2011, when she took dance lessons from him. She agrees that many, but not all, interactions were consensual.

Writing for the majority in the Supreme Court decision, Justice Margaret H. Chutich noted that the litigation stemmed from a house party Johnson hosted in 2015. Freborg claims she was intoxicated at the party and that Johnson “grabbed [her] hand and put it down his pants onto his genitals” without consent.

Their sexual relationship ended after that but they still communicated about dance lessons until 2017. By the time of the Facebook post in 2020, they had not spoken for a few years. Chutich wrote that Freborg acknowledged in the post and private Facebook messages that Johnson never raped her.

Johnson sued Freborg in 2021 and the District Court ruled against Johnson, determining that Freborg’s post was true and of public concern as part of the MeToo movement. A Minnesota appellate court reversed that ruling in a split decision, saying the truth of Freborg’s post had not been determined and was not of public concern. The Supreme Court reversed that ruling in a split decision and sent it back to District Court for trial.

The jury came to four conclusions: Freborg’s statements were not false; Johnson’s claim for defamation failed as a matter of law; Freborg was not liable for defamation; and Johnson was not entitled to damages.

Star Tribune staff writer Kim Hyatt contributed to this report.