October 22, 2026
Dear Readers,
As a news organization, we believe that our role in the community is to report news, not become the subject of it. However, The Belmont Voice has recently become the target of a lawsuit, and we feel it is our obligation to share that news with you, our readers.
On Wednesday, Oct. 21, Shiva Ayyadurai, a Belmont resident and U.S. Senate candidate, filed a federal lawsuit against The Belmont News Foundation, our editor-in-chief, Jesse Floyd, and our board chair, Sarah Caputo. His claim is that the paper violated his civil rights and committed unfair trade practices.
This is a baseless, frivolous lawsuit that we expect will be resolved quickly. Unfortunately, it is also a costly distraction from the work of putting out this newspaper. As you know, The Belmont Voice is a nonprofit organization, with a small staff and an all-volunteer board of directors. Even a frivolous lawsuit costs us valuable time and money in the form of legal fees.
Ayyadurai’s complaint demands coverage from The Belmont Voice. He is a candidate currently polling at 1 percent in an October 2026 Suffolk University poll sponsored by The Boston Globe. As such, The Voice had planned to include him in a story about independent candidates running for office in the general election. When The Voice did not yield to his demands for more extensive coverage, Ayyadurai ultimately filed suit.
The Belmont Voice is fortunate to employ a small but mighty team of experienced journalists in our newsroom, and we stand behind them in this case, as we do with every story they cover.
Our country was built on the foundation of a free press. The Belmont Voice is proud to be part of that tradition. We plan to vigorously defend ourselves and our independence as a news organization in this lawsuit. We will not be intimidated by outside pressure.
We thank you, as always, for your support. We will continue to cover the news that affects Belmont, and look forward to putting this unpleasant distraction behind us.
From The Belmont Voice Board of Directors
