Abel was trashed by Groth and Ellison in a 1980 interview in COMICS JOURNAL 53. Michael Fleischer sued Groth and Ellison for their comments about him in the interview, but I felt Jack Abel, Don Heck and writer Gerry Conway were the ones who were thoroughly trashed as talentless hacks.
IIRC the issue was that Groth and Ellison stated Fleischer was mentally ill which is arguably defamation, whereas calling someone a "hack" would typically be viewed as a matter of opinion or taste. Also, it should be noted, Fleischer lost his lawsuit, which tends to show any claim by Abel, Heck or Conway would have failed as well. So its a good think Abel didn't waste his money suing.
