Owner of Headquarter Nissan in Columbus wins $7.5 million in defamation lawsuit

MOBILE, Ala. -- An Alabama jury has awarded $7.5 million to the owner of Headquarter Nissan in Columbus -- an Iranian-born car dealer who sued a Florida competitor for defamation, claiming workers there portrayed him as a terrorist.

A jury in Mobile awarded the judgment Monday to Shawn Esfahani in his lawsuit against Bob Tyler Toyota in Pensacola, Fla. The Iranian-born Esfahani owns Eastern Shore Toyota in addition to Headquarter Nissan.

The Press-Register reports that the man filed suit claiming workers at Bob Tyler Toyota told customers that Esfahani is from the Middle East and was funneling money to terrorists, calling his business "Taliban Toyota."

Esfahani says the claims were very hurtful. He fled Iran in 1980 after the Islamic revolution and is now a U.S. citizen.

S.E. Columbus Automotive, owned by Daphne, Ala.-based dealer Esfahani, bought the franchise at the corner of Whitesville and Whittlesey roads in Columbus out of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in April 2010.

Esfahani owns Toyota and Hyundai dealerships in Daphne, a Mobile, Ala., suburb and a Kia store in Metro Atlanta.

This story was originally published November 2, 2011 at 8:15 AM with the headline "Owner of Headquarter Nissan in Columbus wins $7.5 million in defamation lawsuit."