The Scenario - Minnesota

John Wicker is the President and CEO of NM Enterprises Inc., a company that sells New Mexico green chile products in the state of Minnesota. Most or all of the company's activities take place in Minnesota, except perhaps the transport of chiles from New Mexico to Minnesota.

In addition to selling his company's products, in his spare time outside of his work for the business, John Wicker also conducts public awareness campaigns about the dangers of cigarette smoking. This is not related to the business of NM Enterprises Inc.

Maria Larue is a private citizen and resident of the State of Minnesota. She recently created a "public service campaign" in order to tell citizens about the dangers of eating green chile. She claims that green chile is bad for Minnesotans' health, despite the fact that there is no scientific evidence to substantiate her claim. She has created, among other things, a website stating the following about NM Enterprises Inc. and John Wicker:

1. "NM Enterprises Inc. is an immoral company.
2. "NM Enterprises Inc.'s green chiles are linked to autism rates in young children."
3. "Green chile is bad for your health."
4. "John Wicker is a philanderer and has had several extramarital affairs with staff."
5. "John Wicker has lost his mind and cannot manage his company."
6. "Consumers have filed dozens of complaints against NM Enterprises Inc. since 2017."
7. "John Wicker is a smoker and a hypocrite."

NM Enterprises Inc. and John Wicker disagree with all of the above statements, and there is no information in the company or John Wicker's possession to support the factual portions of these statements. NM Enterprises Inc. believes that Maria Larue is simply doing making these statements because she is prejudiced against New Mexico and does not believe that it should be part of the United States. NM Enterprises Inc. and John Wicker also suspect that Maria Larue may wish to set up a business that competes with NM Enterprises Inc.

NM Enterprises Inc.'s annual net income for the past few years has been $5, million per year. If these types of statements continue, NM Enterprises Inc. is projected to lose at least 10% of its net income in Minnesota, and John Wicker may be forced to resign from the company, losing his salary and benefits totaling approximately $400,000 per year. NM Enterprises Inc. and John Wicker would like to file a lawsuit against Maria Larue, in order to stop her from engaging in this type of behavior in the future. However, they are not entirely sure how to do so, given the complexity of the law regarding defamation.

Question

1. Is John Wicker a public figure?