Given how quickly comments, videos, Yelp recommendations and blog posts can go viral, it is easy to understand why a company might be tempted to threaten legal action against a customer who has taken his or her complaint online. Especially a local firm whose feels its reputation in its market might be at risk.
But generally speaking - unless the customer is outright lying - the First Amendment provides cover for such commentary. And then there is this: the customer could well to use the threatened suit for more online fodder.
There are exceptions to that general rule of thumb, though, as a case unfolding in Michigan shows.
T & J Towing has sued a Western Michigan University student who formed "Kalamazoo Residents against T & J Towing" group on Facebook, according to Michigan Live. Justin Kurtz launched the site in February after his car was towed from the apartment complex where he lives. It now has more than 4,200 members.
"Cease Slanderous Claims"
T & J Towing sued Kurtz for $750,000 in damages and requested a court order that he "immediately cease and desist any further libelous and slanderous written claims." Kurtz claims on his Facebook page that his Saturn SL2, which was towed had been legally parked and that he had the appropriate parking sticker displayed. When he retrieved it the sticker was missing and the front end of his car was damaged.
Kurtz says on his Facebook page that he believes his car was broken into and his parking sticker removed so that his car could be towed. Other messages posted on the page allege similar things. Also, the Better Business Bureau of Western Michigan has given T & J Towing an overall rating of "F," Mlive reports.
Legal Precedence
Kurtz says he is not backing down. Indeed, he does have legal precedence on his side. It is not illegal to publicize rumors as long as statements are couched with appropriate qualifiers such as "alleged," "reportedly," etc., or clearly are written as opinions, according to TechNewsWorld.
In general, most defamation cases brought against bloggers have not been successful, because the standard of libel is very difficult to meet, Bart Lazar, an intellectual property attorney at Seyfarth Shaw, said. Essentially, the law requires that it must be proved that the person knowingly stated a falsehood.
That will be a tough hurdle for T & J Towing to overcome. Meanwhile news of the suit has added even more members to Kurtz’s group.
