Georgia realtor Julie Mauck was fired by her broker and accused by the Georgia Association of Realtors of engaging in discrimination after she claims a group of cancel culture activists made false claims about her remarks at a July 2023 open meeting at a public library, where she discussed the availability of sexually explicit reading materials for children.
Mauck (pictured above) eventually found a new broker and secured the backing of Coalition for Liberty, a nonprofit that partners with other organizations to help individuals respond to cancel culture, and successfully won an appeal to maintain her license.
She then filed a lawsuit on June 25, accusing Athens Pride, Inc., Athens Pride and Queer Collective, as well as activists Danielle Carmella Bonanno and Fiona Bell of defamation, interference in her business, and engaging in deceptive business practices.
Since filing the lawsuit, Mauck told The Georgia Star News she has faced harassment and social media censorship as retribution.
“After we filed the lawsuit, I started getting some harassing text messages and pictures,” said Mauck, who is also the chair of the Oconee County chapter of the parental rights group Moms for Liberty.”
She added, “There is a profile that has doxxed me and published my address, things like that.”
Mauck explained the unknown individual who sent her the text messages and photos eventually sent “a pornographic image, then was making me try and think they were in my house.”
She told The Star News the individual sent Mauck messages claiming to be in specific parts of her home and confirmed she reported the incident to police.
“It was a little disconcerting,” said Mauck. “I just wanted to make sure we got it on record that I was being harassed.”
In addition to the threatening and explicit messages, the realtor explained that a Facebook group she ran for the benefit of Oconee County was removed after she filed the lawsuit.
She explained, “Most recently, Facebook deleted a group that I run here locally. This was after the lawsuit came out.”
Mauck described the group as mostly dedicated to community issues and connecting local businesses with prospective customers and told The Star News, “I’m almost certain that it’s just punitive.”
Previously, she told The Star News that anonymous activists successfully saw her real estate business purged from Google after a series of bad reviews that referenced the public library meeting.
“I would appeal the review, say I don’t know this person and never did business with them,” she said.
Mauck explained, “Google left it up, so I would leave a comment explaining, this is why they are attacking me.”
Eventually, Mauck said the Big Tech platform simply sent her a notification revealing it removed her account.
Her attorney, Jonathan Vogel, who was recruited by the Coalition for Liberty to represent Mauck in her successful appeal with the Georgia Association of Realtors, told The Star News that those who engage in cancel culture seem unconcerned with whether laws are broken.
“I don’t think they care. I think they are beholden to these desires to push their personal agenda,” said Vogel, “I don’t believe they even consider that when they go tell someone lies, that they are committing defamation and interfering in someone’s business and committing deceptive acts that are actionable under state law.”
Vogel added, “I don’t think they consider it. Thanks to Coalition for Liberty, we’re giving them a wake-up call.”
Peter Barwick, an attorney with Coalition for Liberty, also told The Star News that activists often seem emboldened by the media.
He explained, “I think they’re just used [to] the media narrative being entirely on their side. It creates a kind of sense they can do whatever they want with impunity.” He added that Coalition for Liberty will “step in to bring legal accountability.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
