Shaq sues ex-employee over sold personal emails

Shaquille O'Neal is a man of many personalities - and corresponding nicknames. The Diesel. Shaq Fu. The Big Daddy. Superman. Dr. Shaq. The Big Shamrock. The Big Conductor.

Now we can add "Big Plaintiff" to the list.

According to the AP, O'Neal is suing a former information technology employee the former NBA great claims invaded his privacy by selling personal emails that damaged his reputation.

The lawsuit was filed against Shawn Darling in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. It seeks an injunction barring Darling from providing O'Neal's emails to anyone, unspecified damages and the return of all O'Neal's private electronic messages.

O'Neal paid Darling up to $150 an hour for IT work. The lawsuit claims that included creation of a personal Internet domain for O'Neal that Darling also secretly controlled. The lawsuit claims Darling sold emails to Internet sites and other individuals, who then made them publicly available.

Hmm. Given the dirt Shaq dishes in his new autobiography, it's hard not to consider a new nickname for him: The Big Hypocrite.

Whether Shaq is indeed correct about the pilfered emails, it's tough to take this lawsuit seriously when it comes from a man who just wrote a book that takes Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and others to task for their insecure, prima donna ways. Is his tell-all book illegal? No. Is it reputation tarnishing? Definitely to some readers.

In the suit, Shaq claims his reputation was damaged. It's a dubious claim from a superstar whose image is tough to alter at this point. Love him or hate him, Shaquille O'Neal is outspoken, intelligent, stubborn, funny, egotistical and thoughtful. It's hard to imagine that reputation would change with a few emails published on Internet sites. If anything, these emails probably enhanced his rep.

It's worth noting that Darling has previously sued O'Neal over alleged computer hacking. So maybe the big guy has an ulterior motive and could use another nickname: Big Avenger.