O'Reilly had filed notice of the lawsuit last year in New York Supreme Court in Nassau County after Panter posted on Facebook about an ex-girlfriend, whom Panter said had settled harassment claims against the television host. Panter, a Monmouth County resident who served in the state Assembly from 2004 to 2008, said O'Reilly had also contacted his ex seeking information to discredit the accusations of another woman. O'Reilly, who on Twitter accused Panter of "lying" about him, had sought at least $5 million in damages for "the public hatred, ridicule, disgrace, and permanent harm to his professional and personal reputations" he claimed were caused by the Facebook post. "In my opinion, Bill O'Reilly is a bully who attempted to use the legal system to generate publicity for himself and to scare a good and decent man into retracting his support for O'Reilly's accusers," attorney Lisa Bloom, whose firm represented Panter, said in a statement issued Tuesday.