This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
After being asked to leave a Sugar House library because of his lack of hygiene, a Utah man is suing the Salt Lake City Library for $25,000 — and he wants his library card re-activated.
According to a lawsuit filed in 3rd District Court Wednesday, the man wrote that over the summer, he was banned from the public library at 2131 S. 1100 East by a librarian "who said that I smelled and I was unclean."
The man wrote that the librarian was talking loudly with another man, and the duo then began "badgering" him while he was using a library computer. The man argued in court papers that the librarian and her friend "made up erroneous lies about [the plaintiff's] conduct and behavior while in the library."
The man wrote that he is suing on grounds of mental cruelty, defamation of character and lost wages — though, in another document asking to waive fees associated with filing the case, he wrote that he was unemployed.
According to the library's rules of conduct, patrons who have offensive body odor or personal hygiene that interferes with other patrons' ability to use the library will be asked to leave library grounds until the problem is corrected.
No court date has been set in the case.
The man also filed a similar lawsuit against the City Creek Mall in July in federal court, asking for $100,000 in damages after he was kicked off the property for what he said were "ridiculous reasons," such as sitting on planter boxes and picking up cigarettes out of an ashtray. That case has been dismissed, according to court records.
—Jessica Miller