Does Angie's List Have a Section for Lawyers? Online Review Leads to Libel Suit
From the Cincinnati Enquirer, a case that highlights the perils of speaking your mind online:
Erinn Richard was so upset about the care her 3-year-old received at a Blue Ash day care that she wrote a fairly harsh review on Google reviews.
The day-care operators saw it—and sued her for defamation.
"Everything I posted, happened," said Richard, 30, of Fairfield.
She enrolled her son in the Blue Ash Educational Building, a day care in the 10000 block of Kenwood Road "for about eight months" in 2009 before leaving because of what she said was inadequate care.
After that, she was online and posted a review….
Richard had no idea she'd been sued by the day care until a reporter called to ask about it for this story.
"I would not recommend anyone's pet to attend this school," the lawsuit accuses Richard of writing in her review.
Bonus points: The review was posted on the school's own site, which solicited comments from parents. Given relatively loose laws governing online intermediaries, the school can at least breathe a sigh of relief that it doesn't need to sue itself for publishing the statement on its site. More:
Another post on that online review site identifies herself as "Mary Lynne" and as the school's assistant director. She calls the negative posts by Richard and another couple as untrue.
That post notes, "I will not allow untrue anonymous postings to damage our reputation and our business. Yes, the school's attorneys always pursue the ill-advised malicious internet posters!"
Neither [Mary Lynne] Schulok nor the school's attorney returned repeated calls.
The school has two other defamation lawsuits pending involving similar allegations.
A lawyer interviewed for the story says that such court cases will turn on findings of fact.
For those of you itching to slag folks online (not you, gentle Hit & Run readers), The Electronic Frontier Foundation has a handy online primer of what to avoid.