Couple Sued After Posting 1-Star Reviews On Google
While I don’t typically post reviews, I am more apt to most them after a negative experience. In fact, I recently did after an awful experience at a nail salon. However, I may think twice about that next time. A couple is being sued for defamation – for posting 1-star reviews online. Autumn Knepper and Adam Marsh of Vancouver, Washington say they posted negative reviews of a local roofing company after they claim the receptionist was rude to them over the phone. Knepper says shortly after the reviews went up, the company’s owner threatened to sue and told them to take down the reviews before “more damages are done”. Now they are being sued for $112,000, according to Newsweek.
The couple reached out to the company, Executive Roofing Services, about the timeline of repairing a leak. They claim the receptionist refused to give them any information and dismissed requests to speak to a manager. After posting the reviews they also filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Yahoo News reported:
“He told me that he knew where I lived,” Knepper said. “He said he had forensics guy and that he would gladly spend a hundred thousand dollars suing me.” She said she later received a text demanding that she take down her review before “more damages are done,” the local broadcaster reported. Knepper said she responded by calling the police and thought that was “the end of it.” It wasn’t.”
A few weeks later they received notice of the lawsuit. The couple says they can’t afford a lawyer and the lawsuit could bankrupt them. Lawyers for the company say their intent in posting the review was the harm the company as collateral to receive a report “they weren’t entitled to”. The attorneys also claim the couple “intentionally harmed” the company by posting the reviews.
Intent can be difficult to prove in court, and wouldn’t anyone consider the purpose of reviews to inform the community about a business? I would think that their intent was simply to help others avoid the same issues they have. And writing a review over a bad experience, especially a rude employee, seems well within their rights. The business would have been better off responding to the review with their side of the story. The negative publicity of this story will almost certainly do more harm than a single review would. Do you believe this couple should be sued over the reviews?
