Lawyers/Law personnel
bigbootyjudi
member
So, this is getting a little crazy.
I had my coat dry cleaned at a local cleaner. It was the first time I had used this cleaner and they did an AWFUL job. When I called to complain, she told me she had more customers when I told her I would never be back. So, I trotted over to Yelp to post a review.
Since that review, things have gotten nuts - the owner has messaged me multiple times accusing me of slander, saying he's going to send me to court, stating that he bought my home address off of a website online, etc. I have reported it to Yelp, who told me to flag the messages, which I have. They have not responded to me since. I have screenshots of every message he has sent, some in which he admitted that he was drunk, and my phone has rang non-stop by an "unknown number" since all of this started.
So, my question is, can he really sue me for slander? I mean, I looked around online and it seems that it's covered by the First Amendment and has been ruled in the reviewer's favor every time. The guy is also 25, a year older than I am, and his business isn't doing that well - so I'm guessing that's why he's threatening to sue. I no longer have the coat because it smelt so awful when his business was done with it that I threw it away.
I told him that if I received anything at my home address, I'd contact the police for harassment and stalking.
Any advice would be appreciated. This has gotten way out of control.
UPDATE: I called the police - she said she would file a harassment claim, but
it really doesn't do much, so she'd recommend a PPO. I called a lawyer,
just to see what/if could actually happen and he said the probability
that he'll sue and that a lawyer would actually take his case is low. He
would have to prove that my statements were false (which would mean he
would have to have the coat), that my statements caused a customer not
to go there, and that it caused enough customers not to go there that he
lost a significant amount of $. He would have to have multiple
unrelated witnesses (which he doesn't - he wasn't even there when I
picked it up) and he'd have to give the attorney a $5,000 retainer. So,
it would cost him a hell of a lot of $ in the long run. The attorney
said that if I do get a letter, I should just take down the review
because to go to court would just be a waste of my time and money, all
over a review....and if anything, I could sue him for harassment. Thanks ladies.
SCANDAL!
Re: Lawyers/Law personnel
Nobody can give you legal advice over the internet.
But it seems like he is a crazy person and you should be more worried about being stalked than being sued.
People can sue for anything. Doesn't mean they'll win or even get their case heard. Doesn't sound to me like he's the kind who could get it together enough to actually sue. He's trying to scare you. Can you block him on yelp? Block his phone calls? Give him as little access to you as possible.
***Not Legal Advice***
Slander by definition is spoken. If he were to sue, it would be for libel, which covers things written. Just a minor difference but shows he hasn't spoken to an attorney about this. In either case, truth is a defense to slander and libel. So he could sue (people can sue for anything), but a court may throw it out and the fact that your review is truthful means you should win the case if it came to that (though it can be costly and a huge headache).
I agree with the other posters that I'd be more concerned about stalking/harassment than about being sued for libel. If you get another message, I'd call the non-emergency police line and get a report filed.
*Siggy Warning*
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This.
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This whole Yelp thing is getting nuts. Basically, there was one case where a woman was sued by a business in NY and he won where he sued her for hurting his business. Whatever... I wouldn't worry it from a terms of his suing you. It takes money and resources to sue people. But, I would worry about his harrassment. how much has he been calling you? file a police report and at least the police may go to his busines and talk to him and it will scare him enough to back off. It will also show a record if he's harassing other customers like this.
Then, let it go and get on with your life (safely). Sounds like he's a nut job and has personal problems.