A woman in the United States is being sued for $US750,000 after leaving a bad review on social media site Yelp, with the target company alleging the statement was inaccurate and cost it lost business.
Before we get into the specifics, just think about that for a second. Do you use Yelp (or any other service for that matter) to discuss your experiences at restaurants or with other businesses? Have you ever left a negative review of a business? Depending on what you say and how the business in question reacts, that freedom of speech thing you’ve grown so fond of may not be enough to hold up in a court of law.
On the flipside, however, as a business, should you not have legal recourse for accusations you believe to be false, in order to protect your business’ reputation, and avoid losing potential customers? It’s a tricky debate, and any legal rulings could have far-reaching implications for future cases. On the one hand, ruling against the reviewer risks opening the floodgates for such suits which could ultimately cost average consumers not only their voice, but unaffordable legal fees. On the other hand, ruling in favor of the reviewer could leave room for all kinds of smear campaigns from disgruntled consumers or even ex-employees of businesses who did not leave on the best of terms. It could, as one business claims, cost said business a great deal of money in lost customers.
The incident is one of a growing number of defamation cases based on social media reviews or search results. Recently, a Melbourne man won a defamation case against search engine giant Google after he said search results associated him with known criminals. But a legal expert suggests a case similar to the current Yelp one would be less likely to occur in Australia, where defamation laws are much more stringent.
According to the Washington Post, construction business Dietz Development claims that a review left by Jane Perez has lost them new customers. Perez reportedly indicated that the company had caused damage to her home, trespassed, and even stolen jewelry. According to reports, the judge granted a temporary injunction, and ordered Perez to change parts of the Yelp review — specifically the part about jewelry theft, which had said, “I found my jewelry missing and Dietz was the only one with a key.” She was also reportedly ordered to nix a part mentioning a previous lawsuit that Dietz had filed.
The court is taking the complaint seriously – a judge has already ordered a preliminary injunction to have the post edited. The case highlights a growing concern among businesses that online reviews – content over which they have no control – wields a huge amount of power. That same power can be devastating when incorrect, as Dietz Development alleges. It’s certainly not the first time this has happened. Last year a blogger was sued for $US2.5 million, with a judge saying she was not awarded the same protections as journalists.
Perez’s attorney, was quoted by media outlets as saying, “Obviously this is very chilling to free speech because folks are going to be very concerned and afraid to voice their opinions about businesses… We believe that these sites are the forum where we should be encouraged to write about our experiences with businesses.” The Dietz party maintains that its reputation is at stake, and that accusations are false. Mail Online also quotes Deitz’s lawyer as saying, “A bad review is one thing. But, it was a bad review that accused him of theft. And in this residential construction, commercial construction business — that’s a devastating accusation.”
You can read the entire 27-page legal document here, courtesy of The Washington Post.
