South Carolina Judge Settles Defamation Suit with Home Association

Court records show a Hilton Head Island judge has reached an out-of-court settlement with a property owners association and a former security chief over $6 million that a court awarded her for defamation.

The Island Packet of Hilton Head reported that court records show Municipal Court Judge Maureen Coffey agreed to the settlement last week during mediation in Columbia. The mediation included Sea Pines Community Services Associations Inc. and former CSA security chief George Breed.

Coffey had accused them of harassing and defaming her and her family during an investigation of a series of break-ins.

CSA and Breed appealed the $6 million judgment against them in April 2013. They had maintained that they had the right to distribute a formal complaint Breed lodged against Coffey because she’s a public official.