The originators of the realyates.com website and @realyates Facebook page are being sued for defamation by Bart Shea, the owner of Shea-Connelly Development, the builder of the Park Place development on Avenue of the Fountains.

The claim naming Mike Archambault and Eugene Mikolajczyk as defendants was filed with Maricopa County Superior Court on July 11. As of late last week, Archambault said he had not been served and hadn’t seen the claim.

According to the court documents, Archambault created the social media sites to “smear” the mayoral campaign of Cecil Yates.

The suit claims Archambault made statements on the website that Shea had conspired with Yates as a member of Town Council to avoid paying development fees in connection with the Park Place project.

Shea also claims that Archambault stated he had given “kickbacks” to Council members Yates, Dennis Brown and Mayor Linda Kavanagh.

The claim continues that “defendant Archambault knows those statements are false and has been reckless in his disregard of the truth of those statements. At a minimum…Archambault has been negligent in ascertaining the veracity of his statements.

“The written and oral representations made by…Archambault are false and have defamed plaintiffs into disrepute, ridicule and have impeached plaintiffs’ honesty, integrity, virtue and reputation.”

Shea claims that Mikolajczyk defamed him in material he provided to The Fountain Hills Times in May. The Times did not use the information but, according to the claim, Mikolajczyk posted the letter to a local Facebook site.

In that letter, Mikolajczyk states the Town of Fountain Hills has been “deprived of approximately $120,000 in additional Park Place [Public Art Fees].”

The claim states that Mikolajczyk knows this statement is false and has been “reckless in his disregard of the truth of those statements.”

According to the claim, based on the false statements, “Shea has received multiple calls inquiring whether [the developer] failed to pay development fees.”

It also states that “several people have commented on or criticized plaintiffs based on the false statements.”

“Defendants publication of false statements impeaches the honesty, integrity or reputation of plaintiffs, and is damaging to plaintiffs’ professional reputations. As such, the defendants’ publication is defamatory per se and presumptive damages may be awarded to plaintiffs without proof of special damages.”

The claim is asking for an award of presumptive damages; a preliminary and permanent injunction enjoining and restraining defendants from publication of false and/or defamatory statements about plaintiffs; all costs incurred by the plaintiffs related to the claim; an award of attorneys’ fees and non-taxable costs; and such other further relief as the court deems “just and proper.”

Shea filed a previous defamation suit against Archambault in 2016. That case was dismissed.