With so many consumers posting online reviews of businesses, it's not surprising that some business-owners might take exception to the occasional negative review, says Carl Settlemeyer, an attorney in the Federal Trade Commission's bureau of consumer protection. "With the rise of user-generated content sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google, we've really seen a shift where folks are being sued for their speech online," Mascagni tells CNBC Make It. "Most Americans don't realize they can be sued for writing an online review," says Evan Mascagni, an attorney who currently serves as Policy Director at the Public Participation Project, a nonprofit group that advocates for First Amendment rights. The lawsuit sought at least $25,000 and legal costs from the Kansas man, but he was granted a summary judgement in August 2019, which terminated the lawsuit, according to court records.Īnd in 2015, a Colorado couple reportedly racked up $65,000 in legal fees (including a $15,000 settlement payment) fighting a defamation lawsuit brought by a flooring company the couple negatively reviewed on Yelp. In 2018, a tourist attraction in Branson, Missouri called Bigfoot on the Strip sued a Kansas man and his daughter over a relatively tepid review posted on TripAdvisor (the man initially gave the business a rating of three out of five stars). In the review, Lloyd recounted how his dog died at the animal hospital waiting for a surgeon who never showed up. In July, a Yelp user in Florida named Tom Lloyd told " CBS This Morning" that he was left with more than $25,000 in legal bills after a veterinary practice sued him for defamation over a negative Yelp review. It's a trend that's become more common as more and more people share their opinions in online forums and discussion boards, from Yelp (which features over 100 million reviews from users) to the comments sections of businesses' social media pages.
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