Bad Yelp Review Leads to $750,000 Lawsuit

Have you ever carelessly posted a Yelp review? Watch out, it could come back to bite you. For one unlucky reviewer, the bill for her scathing commentary might be $750,000 — you read that right. On Yelp, and other sites, Jane Perez typed out her dissatisfaction after Christopher Dietz did some construction work for her. Dietz in turn took her to court saying her comments amounted to defamation; the courts agreed with him and Perez had to take down specific segments of her written reviews.

Along with criticizing his work, Perez wrote that she suspected Dietz of stealing jewelry from her home. Unfortunately for her, Dietz was not one to take the importance of online reputation management lightly. Neither should you. Every day, more folks are gaining a deeper understanding of the impact their online reputation has on their lives. The First Amendment protects your right to express your opinions, but making false and malicious claims about another individual or entity may put you on the wrong side of the law.

Being measured with one’s words when speaking before the public is advised. It may hard, being used to oversharing, and all, but the consequences of not doing so may be even harder to face.
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Read More: http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2012/12/09/166815629/bad-meal-to-yelp-or-not-to-yelp?sc=emaf