The lawsuit – which cites the alleged “improper weaponization” of Yelp — seeks damages in excess of $195,000, as well as compensation for “malicious defamation,” the Review-Journal reports. Khorsandi was in surgery early Thursday and unable to immediately respond to the lawsuit, a woman who answered the phone at his practice told The Post.
“Yelp regularly engages in advocacy work to protect the First Amendment rights of consumers because we believe in the ability for consumers to share their experiences online,” the Yelp spokesperson tells CNBC Make It. Could it still cost you money to fight?
Yelp later took down the post, but Khorsandi, whose practice is in Henderson, and his wife put up similar negative reviews on the platform days later, as well as “other false and defamatory reviews under fake accounts,” the lawsuit claims.
However, in states without anti-SLAPP statutes, even if you successfully get a lawsuit dismissed, there could still be attorney’s fees you have to pay. “This being America, and anybody can file a lawsuit, and legal costs are not cheap even if you do have strong footing, I don’t want to encourage anybody to go broke fighting over this.
The doctor denied the claims and said that the complaint violated his privacy policies. The court found that Yelp’s explanations of the case were credible. Although the case was dismissed, it is still ongoing. The lawsuit has implications for all those who use Yelp. Those who have purchased Yelp stock are entitled to compensation.
They claimed that Yelp violates California’s Unfair Competition Law because it does not moderate reviews. They also argued that Yelp was deleting reviews that were false and did not meet its quality standards. Despite the underlying legal issues, the court ruled in favor of Yelp.
Defamation is a false derogatory statement that is communicated to a third party, harming the reputation of the person it is about. There are two types of defamation: written defamatory statements are libel and spoken defamatory statements are slander. There are five elements that make a statement defamatory:
Business owners have the right to protect their reputation from false and harmful statements that are published on the internet, but at the same time, customers are protected by the first amendment, which grants the inherent right of free speech. The line is often blurred when it comes between defamation and free speech.
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protects Internet service providers and online platforms, such as Yelp and Twitter, and holds that they are not liable for the content posted on their platforms by third parties.
In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that they would no longer hear cases relating to defamatory Yelp reviews. There is also no official appeals process for removing reviews through Yelp - this means that false reviews can remain on the platform! So what can business owners do to stop libel when necessary?
If you or your business are facing online defamation, you can write a cease and desist letter before taking more drastic action, like taking the case to court. Let the AI-powered robot lawyer draft a convincing cease and desist letter with accurate details and specific information about your state laws.
Plastic surgeon, wife used fake Yelp reviews to damage rival: suit. A Nevada plastic surgeon and his wife used bogus Yelp reviews to bash the reputation of an in-state rival, a new lawsuit claims.
A Nevada plastic surgeon and his wife used bogus Yelp reviews to bash the reputation of an in-state rival, a new lawsuit claims.