Attorney sues Birmingham mayoral candidate, activist over arson, fraud, domestic violence claims

Published On: August 26, 2025

State Representative Juandalynn Givan (D-Birmingham) and two other individuals are being sued by a lawyer and real estate developer who claims they falsely accused him during a social media dispute.

Eric Guster, the lawyer who initiated the lawsuit, claimed on Facebook that they had made numerous accusations against him and accused him of morally repugnant conduct. They simultaneously used the same lies in their attack strategy against me.

But Givan, who is running against incumbent Mayor Randall Woodfin and seven other candidates for the position of mayor of Birmingham, said the lawsuit is an attempt to sway Tuesday’s election.

Givan informed AL.com that his support for the incumbent is widely known. Three days before the election, you suddenly feel the need to make an announcement. He didn’t even need to make his lawsuit public. That simply informs you.

Guster filed a complaint in Jefferson County Circuit Court on Wednesday, claiming that Givan, former mayoral staffer Kwani Carson, and consultant and social activist Carlos Chaverst plotted to disparage him on social media.

In addition, Guster promised to name more defendants later.

Guster claims that once the three defendants claimed that artwork had been taken from the premises, they accused him of domestic abuse, including hitting his wife and many other women and setting fire to his business in order to obtain insurance money.

According to the complaint, these allegations are untrue and have harmed his reputation.

In his case, Guster requested that the court compel the defendants to take down and revoke all of their posts about him on social media and grant him monetary damages for the defamatory remarks.

Guster also requested that the court forbid the defendants from ever referencing him or making any more public remarks on social media.

Chaverst and Givan vehemently refuted the accusations. Carson said she had not gotten a copy of the lawsuit and declined to comment.

Guster talked about the case in a Facebook live video on Saturday, stating that he hopes to protect others and himself from the kinds of strategies he claims the defendants employ.

During the live stream, Guster stated, “I hope that I stamp out this type of behavior because it’s uncalled for, nasty, and vile, and one thing I’m not going to do is take it.”

However, Givan said that she was only protecting herself from Guster’s assaults and never made any accusations against him.

In a Facebook live video released on July 25, Guster criticized Givan’s election-related strategies and her performance as a state legislator.

The next day, in a lengthy Facebook live broadcast, Givan addressed Guster’s accusations against her. However, she contends that she was not the source of the accusations brought against Guster.

Givan stated, “I don’t believe I said anything that hasn’t been said in countless ways by numerous people over the years.” I’ve never gotten involved in a situation where I begged someone to harass me or pay me.

Givan stated that she plans to sue Guster in retaliation for the allegations he made against her.

Chaverst said he would be able to prove the accusations against Guster in court and referred to the case as ridiculous.

Chaverst stated, “I am eager to see Eric in court and discover the real truth.”

Since the lawsuit was filed, numerous additional people—including his family members—have come forward with information that supports some of the statements I made about Eric Guster on social media.

Throughout this election, Guster has publicly backed Woodfin, even erecting a Randemic billboard in his honor.

Chaverst charged Guster with improperly disclosing in-kind contributions to Woodfin’s campaign, including installing billboards endorsing the candidate.

Even though Eric Guster is making a big deal out of nothing, he has more important things to worry about in this case, including the campaign contributions and whether or not they have been recognized as in-kind contributions, which they are, according to Chaverst.

A request for response from Guster’s lawyer, Teresa Mastando, was not answered in time for publication.