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Peter school board member named in defamation lawsuit
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Peters Township school director Lynn Erenberg has been accused of authoring an anonymous blog entry that targeted a local physical therapist concerned about concussions suffered by student athletes.
Earlier this year, physical therapist and athletic trainer Mark Mortland of Peters filed a defamation lawsuit against an anonymous blogger for posting what he claimed were false statements about his business and personal life.
According to the lawsuit, filed in Washington County Court, an anonymous poster wrote comments on a blog called "The PTSD Saga Continues."
The anonymous post, along with others, came shortly after Mr. Mortland and some parents publicly questioned the judgment of Peters High School head football coach Rich Piccinini, who Mr. Mortland believed was interfering with the medical treatment of football players with concussions and other injuries.
"I have been under attack since then," said Mr. Mortland, whose physical therapy business is under contract to treat student athletes at Peters, and who worked as the head athletic trainer for the Penguins for 16 years.
On Friday, Mr. Mortland amended his lawsuit to specifically name Ms. Erenberg as the author of the blog entry.
Mr. Mortland said that he received confirmation from Google, the company which hosted the blog, and Comcast, that the comments were generated from Ms. Erenberg's email account.
Ms. Erenberg did not respond to requests for comment. Ms. Erenberg is the mother of two boys in the high school football program and wife of former Pittsburgh Steeler Rich Erenberg.
Ms. Erenberg heads the school board's sports programs and activities committee and her husband heads the booster club for the high school football program.
First Published June 30, 2012 12:36 am
