Campaign 2012

Montana Democratic Party in suit over alleged defamation

Posted: Oct 25, 2012 5:42 PM by Jamie Leary
Updated: Oct 25, 2012 6:49 PM

A series of political advertisements created by the Montana Democratic Party face allegations of defamation.

Founder and CEO of RightNow Technologies, Greg Gianforte, recently filed suit against the Montana Democratic Party.

Gianforte claims the organization made false statements about U.S. House candidate Steve Daines' involvement with RightNow.

According to court documents, the political advertisements in question say that Daines "built a business with over $15 million in government contracts paid with tax payer money, then shipped jobs overseas."

The second ad says that Daines "outsourced jobs from his own business, laying off hardworking Montanans."

Gianforte says those advertisements are false.

"The entire team at RightNow Technologies spent 15 years of our lives creating good paying jobs right here in Bozeman that average $86,000 a year. For anyone to say that we used taxpayer dollars to send jobs overseas is incorrect and offensive. People should not lie about our accomplishments for their personal and political gain," said Gianforte.

The Montana Democratic Party issued a statement saying, "this case has no merit. It's in our lawyer's hands."

Daines joined RightNow in 2000 as VP of Customer Service. Daines had played many roles in RightNow since.

Gianforte has requested a trial by jury. A date has yet to be set.