DELAWARE VALLEY AESTHETICS, PLLC v. JOHN DOE 1
Amended Complaint — Document #11
District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
Description
First Amended Complaint against JOHN DOE 1 and JAMIE MILLER filed by DELAWARE VALLEY AESTHETICS, PLLC d/b/a RUMER COSMETIC SURGERY and KATHY RUMER, DO, FACOS.(mbh, ) (Entered: 12/04/2020)
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
DELAWARE VALLEY AESTHETICS, PLLC :
d/b/a RUMER COSMETIC SURGERY :
105 Ardmore Avenue :
Ardmore, PA 19003 :
:
and :
:
KATHY RUMER, DO, FACOS :
105 Ardmore Avenue :
Ardmore, PA 19003 :
Plaintiffs, :
:
v. : CIVIL ACTION
:
JOHN DOE 1 :
Unknown Name : No. 20-456
Unknown Address :
First Defendant :
:
and :
:
JAMIE MILLER :
57 Laidlaw Avenue :
Apartment 1 :
Jersey City, NJ 07306 :
Second Defendant. :
FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT
Plaintiffs, Delaware Valley Aesthetics, PLLC, d/b/a Rumer Cosmetic Surgery, and Kathy
Rumer, DO, FACOS ( P a ff ), by and through their counsel, ROGERS CASTOR, hereby
submit the following First Amended Complaint against First Defendant, John Doe 1, and Second
Defendant, Jamie Miller ( e e af e c ec e efe ed a Defe da ), a d in support
thereof, aver as follows:
THE PARTIES
1. First Plaintiff, Delaware Valley Aesthetics, PLLC, is a professional limited
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liability company, organized and existing under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
with a registered place of business at 105 Ardmore Avenue, Ardmore, Montgomery County,
Pennsylvania. Delaware Valley Aesthetics, PLLC, is known to the public and conducts business
under the registered fictious name Rumer Cosmetic Surgery (First Plaintiff will hereinafter be
efe ed a R e C e c ).
2. Second Plaintiff, Kathy Rumer, DO, FACOS (hereinafter referred to as D .
R e ) is an adult individual maintaining a principal place of business at 105 Ardmore Avenue,
Ardmore, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Kathy Rumer is a Doctor of Osteopathic
Med c e ( DO ) a d Fe f e A e ca C e e fO e a cS e ( FACOS ).
Dr. Rumer practices medicine at Rumer Cosmetics.
3. First Defendant, John Doe 1, is believed to be an adult individual, the identity and
add e f a e. P a ff e d de e eJ D e1 de
and address through further discovery and will amend this Complaint accordingly upon
reviewing said information. Plaintiffs have yet to ascertain whether Second Defendant acted
a e e e J D e1c b ed Sec d Defe da d a a e ed e ein.
4. Upon information and belief, Second Defendant, Jamie Miller (hereinafter
referred to as Ms. Miller ), is an adult individual residing at 57 Laidlaw Avenue, Apartment 1,
Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey. Ms. Miller af e a e fPa ff . Ms.
Miller has gone to considerable lengths to conceal her identity from Plaintiffs and to circumvent
attempts to locate her.
JURISDICTION AND VENUE
5. Jurisdiction is founded upon diversity of citizenship of the parties and the amount
in controversy pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1322, in that Plaintiffs are citizens and residents of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Ms. Miller is a citizen of New Jersey, and John Doe 1 is
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believed, and therefore averred, to be a citizen of a state other than Pennsylvania; and the amount
in controversy exceeds $75,000.00.
FACTS
6. Rumer Cosmetics, through Dr. Rumer, offers a host of cosmetic surgeries to
potential patients, the majority of which focus on altering the body, such as nose surgery, breast
implants, injectable fillers/Botox, hair restoration, etc.
7. Of the services offered by Rumer Cosmetics, Dr. Rumer is most renowned as a
leading aesthetic and reconstructive plastic surgeon specializing in gender reassignment surgery.
This includes both male to female surgeries (of which Dr. Rumer performs 200 to 250 every
year) and female to male surgeries (of which Dr. Rumer performs more than 150 every year).
8. Patients travel from all across the United States to receive gender reassignment
surgery at Rumer Cosmetics because of D . R e stellar track record and reputation for
excellence.
9. Rumer Cosmetics derives a bulk of its annual income from said gender
reassignment surgeries, and the success of its business can be attributed to the reputation of Dr.
Rumer in both the medical and lay-person communities.
10. In or around 2019, Dr. Rumer discovered a website known as Kathy R e
Anonymous a blog dedicated to Chasing the #ButcherofArdmore. The URL of said website
is: rumorsanonymous.blogspot.com (hereinafter the Website ).
11. The Website is maintained and edited by Ms. Miller, either individually or with
the assistance of John Doe 1, e a f a D .R e a dR e C e c
reputation in the medical community as well as her reputation amongst potential clients.
12. Ms. Miller and/or Defendants have updated the Website making claims such as,
inter alia:
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(a) That a quote in an advertisement for D . R e service was not real.
Defendants attributed said quote to a fake client, thus implying Plaintiffs lied in an
advertisement.
(b) Claiming that Dr. Rumer stormed out of a surgery room demanding her
staff to deal with it because her patient was having an anxiety attack.
(c) Claiming that Dr. Rumer instructed a patient to cut off a portion of her
own labia with scissors.
(d) Labeling Dr. Rumer the Butcher of Ardmore, thereby implying she
repeatedly fails surgeries and butchers clients.
(e) Posting Dr. Rumer home address, when she does not disclose such
information to her patients.
(f) Labeling surgeries as botched without supporting facts.
(g) Many other claims that are made with either knowledge of their falsity
and/or recklessness as to their veracity with the intention of injuring Plaintiffs
reputation.
13. In addition to the above, Ms. Miller and/or Defendants have sent threatening
emails to Dr. Rumer and Rumer Cosmetics. For example, on January 5, 2020, Dr. Rumer
received an email from rualooker555@gmail.com that provided as follows:
Please allow me to introduce myself, I am the bringer of bad news and taste.
The trans community is about to have # e e e . I e
e a bee eR e A b . D e ?
I know you read it, I know you scan reddit for the horror stories people post
about you. I know you are slowly going insane from watching your
reputation slowly on the decline. Do you know how many submissions I
e f e e a ? I a c e e .
Enjoy the inevitable.
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Pleased to meet you, I hope you try to guess my name.
This is one of many threats, often refe e c T eR S e c, ade b Ms.
Miller a d/ Defe da a Pa ff e a .
14. It is believed, and therefore averred, that the Website is hosted at IP
Address 162.158.63.49. From said IP Address, it appears the Website is maintained by
the Internet Service Provider CloudFlare, Inc.
15. Based on the present state of the Website, and the repeated threats made
by Ms. Miller a d/ Defe da , e Pa ff e a c e
e Web e c ea e d acc ab e aC f La .
COUNT I
Libel Per Se
Plaintiffs v. Ms. Miller and/or Defendants
16. Plaintiffs incorp a e Pa a a 1 15 b efe e ce a e
same were set forth herein in extenso.
17. The statements posted by Ms. Miller and/or Defendants on the Website, as more
f de c bed Pa a a 11 ab e e e ,d aa e Pa ff c e e ce a d e
its trade and business, thus constituting libel per se.
18. The libelous statements were authored and posted online by Ms. Miller and/or
Defendants.
19. The Website is accessible to anyone with internet access. Ms. Miller and/or
Defendants have gone out of her/their way to promote the Website by posting links to it on other
social media websites such as Reddit.com. This conduct made the libelous statements contained
on the Website highly visible.
20. Ms. Miller a d/ Defe da defa a b a ead de d b its
readers to be about Plaintiffs, and as a direct result thereof, Plaintiffs have suffered a permanent
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false taint and substantial professional harm to their business reputations.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs demand judgment against Ms. Miller individually and/or
Defendants jointly and severally, in an amount in excess of $75,000.00, together with all
applicable interest, costs, and fees, as well as any other available relief.
COUNT II
Commercial Disparagement
Plaintiffs v. Ms. Miller and/or Defendants
21. Pa ff c a e Pa a a 1 20 b efe e ce a e
same were set forth herein in extenso.
22. Dr. Rumer and the staff of Rumer Cosmetics have been approached by existing
and/or prospective customers who have seen the defamatory statements posted on the Website by
Ms. Miller and/or Defendants. Said customers commented and/or question Dr. Rumer and
R e C e c aff ab e ae e .
23. Internet posts, such as the Website blog published by Ms. Miller and/or
Defendants, are permane ac ed e Web e e e , a d ca be acce ed
even if removed or deleted.
24. Add a ,a c ee a d/ e e a e e ca f e Web e
can be easily created and readily available to anyone reading the Website, which is still online as
of the filing of this First Amended Complaint.
25. Plaintiffs have suffered financial loss as a direct result of the damage to their
business reputation resulting from the defamatory online statements published by Ms. Miller
and/or Defendants.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs demand judgment against Ms. Miller individually and/or
Defendants jointly and severally, in an amount in excess of $75,000.00, together with all
applicable interest, costs, and fees, as well as any other available relief.
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COUNT III
Intentional Interference with Business Relationships
Plaintiffs v. Ms. Miller and/or Defendants
26. Pa ff c a e Pa a a 1 25 b efe e ce a e
same were set forth herein in extenso.
27. T e c d c de c bed Pa a a 11 a d 12 ab e ee c e a
effort by Ms. Miller and/or a concerted effort by Defendants e fe e Pa ff e
and prospective business relationships. In fact, interfering with said relationships is Ms. Miller
and/or Defe da a ed e c ea e Web e.
28. Ms. Miller and/or Defendants c d c a de c bed e e a f a d
without justification or privilege.
29. Ms. Miller and/or Defendants c d c a de c bed e e a e a a d
was deliberately designed to cause harm to Plaintiffs.
30. Plaintiffs have suffered, and will continue to suffer, financial loss as a direct result
of Ms. Miller and/or Defendants f e fe e ce Pa ff e a d/
prospective business relationships.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs demand judgment against Ms. Miller individually and/or
Defendants jointly and severally, in an amount in excess of $75,000.00, together with all
applicable interest, costs, and fees, as well as any other available relief.
COUNT III
Invasion of Privacy: Public Disclosure of Private Fact
Dr. Rumer v. Ms. Miller and/or Defendants
31. Pa ff c a e Pa a a 1 30 b efe e ce a e
same were set forth herein in extenso.
32. As stated above, Ms. Miller and/or Defendants b ed D . R e e a
address and financial information on the Website.
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33. The information on the Website was accessible, and still is accessible, to anyone
with internet access.
34. I f a e ad D .R e e a add e a d f a ce aea d
never disclosed to the average patient.
35. Ms. Miller and/or Defendants b c fD .R e e a add e a d
finances is highly offensive to a reasonable person, and further is highly offensive to Dr. Rumer.
36. D .R e e a add e a d f a ce a a e f e a e c ce
the public and evidences Ms. Miller and/or Defendants e e ea ed aa ,
discredit, smear, tarnish the reputation of, and annoy Dr. Rumer.
37. Ms. Miller and/or Defendants e ea ed, c a,a d b a a b c f
D .R e ae f ation was outrageous, willful, malicious, and intentionally designed
to and actually did cause economic and professional harm to Dr. Rumer.
38. Dr. Rumer suffered substantial monetary and non-economic harm from the
Web e b ca .
39. Ms. Miller and/or Defendants c d c a ec e a d/ e a a d/
wanton and/or outrageous and therefore, she is individually and/or they are jointly and severally
liable to Dr. Rumer for punitive damages.
WHEREFORE, Dr. Rumer demands judgment against Ms. Miller individually and/or
Defendants jointly and severally, in an amount in excess of $75,000.00, together with all
applicable interest, costs, and fees, as well as any other available relief.
Date: December 2, 2020 Respectfully Submitted,
ROGERS CASTOR
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By: /s/ Lance Rogers____________
Lance Rogers (ID No. 87546)
ROGERS CASTOR
26 East Athens Ave.
Ardmore, PA 19003
610-649-1800 / 877-649-1880 (Fax)
Attorneys for Plaintiffs
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