Yelp User Gets Sued For $750k Over Negative Review
By Adriana Lee | +
Ever been ticked off enough by a company or local business to write a scathing review? (Who hasn’t?) Well, you might want to cool off before you hit that submit button. The line between sharing an experience and engaging in defamation is a fuzzy one, and Jane Perez just ran smack dab into it. When she told the Interwebs exactly how she felt about her dealings with her contractor, the company was not amused, and now she has been sued for three quarters of a million dollars in damages.
Perez hit Yelp and Angie’s List to outline her experience with Dietz Development, which she says trespassed on her property, damaged her home and even stole her jewelry. Then the Virginia native urged people not to “put yourself through this nightmare of a contractor.” In response, Dietz filed a $750,000 lawsuit against Perez, alleging that she smeared its reputation and cost it at least $300,000 worth of business.
But the details of this particular situation aren’t as striking as the context of the legal case. This is just the latest in what can only be called a trend: Companies, sick and tired of seeing their businesses slammed online, are using the courts to strike back at users posting negative — and, they say, libelous — reviews.
Other Posts You May Be Interested In...
-
Apple Brings iTunes to the Cloud, Legitimizes Illegally-Downloaded Music?
Today along with its new iCloud service, Apple announced iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match. Amazon and Google already have cloud-music services that let…
-
California Makes Self-Driving Cars Legal
With almost 38 million people residing in California, traffic can get a little hectic. Anyone who has had the misfortune of experiencing rush hour traffic…
-
Facebook Threatens Legal Action Against Employers Who Request Logins
Remember the news about some employers and universities who make candidates submit to a social media review? Well, apparently it has caused a stink with…
-
Jailbreaking Apple’s iOS Still Isn’t Legal Despite Many Reports
Ever since the iPhone was introduced in 2007, people have felt stifled by the fact that the only things you could load onto the iPhone…
In Perez’s case, the big question is whether she was out of line, carelessly defaming the company in her quest to vent about the experience, or if she within her right to share her story and exercise her right to free speech. In this particular situation, it’s tough to say. Perez and Dietz were already in the thick of another legal fight when her reviews went live, over previous unpaid invoices that she says were for work that was never performed, and that makes it seem like she could have been on a vendetta. Whether that played into the court’s decision or not isn’t clear, but ultimately the judge sided with Dietz. The judge granted a temporary injunction in favor of the contractor, and Perez was ordered to edit the review and remove the mention of stolen jewelry.
So far, it has been very difficult to prove Internet Defamation cases, but that hasn’t stopped businesses from trying. And with every judgment awarded, more scrutiny is warranted. After all, part of the joy — and the horror — of online life is that people feel free to express themselves. The very nature of the Internet would change drastically if individuals suddenly stopped sharing their experiences for fear of legal action, no?
Where do you stand? Do you believe people have the right to express themselves as they see fit online, or should they be held accountable for libelous statements or accusations? Weigh in.
