During the 2011 election cycle, a mystery: A campaign sign uprooted from Chuck Bernstein's front yard. A cellphone dropped nearby, reported to the Menlo Park police. A phone that, according to Mr. Bernstein, showed messages tagged with "Woodell" scrolling by in the upper corner of the screen.

The campaign sign belonged to Virginia Chang Kiraly, then seeking election to the board of directors for the Menlo Park Fire Protection District.

Eventually John Woodell denied vandalizing the sign, saying he would never do such a thing and that his phone had been lost hours after the sign vanished into the bushes.

And now: A lawsuit filed by Mr. Woodell against Mr. Bernstein, Ms. Chang Kiraly, and unidentified parties Does 1-100 for defamation and conspiracy for their alleged comments regarding the incident, which he contends were false and made without first attempting any "reasonable investigation."

The Oct. 11 filing alleges in part that "Before making those statements to third parties, including the police and the media, BERNSTEIN and DOES 1 -20 never spoke to Plaintiff about the situation though he knew the PHONE belonged to him or someone related to him and they were neighbors.

"Starting on or around October 17, 2011 and continuing, Defendant KIRALY and DOES 1 -20 made comments to individuals, other than Plaintiff, claiming that Plaintiff John Woodell stole her campaign signs from all around Menlo Park."

The involved parties didn't have much to say. Mr. Woodell had no comment, and the defendants said they didn't know about the lawsuit until the Almanac called on Tuesday (Nov. 13) night. Papers had not yet been served.

Mr. Woodell has retained attorney Seth Rosenberg of Minami Tamaki LLP in San Francisco; the lawsuit seeks damages for "emotional distress and injury to Plaintiff s property, business, trade, profession or occupation" and attorney fees.

A case management conference is scheduled for March 21 in San Mateo County Superior Court.

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