The Dog Spot East Nashville files $2 million libel lawsuit against Facebook commenters

Adam Tamburin | The Tennessean

Show Caption Hide Caption The Dog Spot East Nashville files $2 million libel lawsuit against Facebook commenters An East Nashville dog daycare is suing two women for libel after they criticized the business on Facebook.

An East Nashville dog daycare is suing two women for libel after they criticized the business on Facebook.

The Dog Spot's East Nashville location filed the $2 million suit this month in Davidson County Circuit Court, accusing defendants Jamie Bayer and Bari Rachel Miley Hardin of libel, fraud, negligence and invasion of privacy.

Bayer and Hardin had posted numerous negative comments about the business in an East Nashville Facebook group, sometimes saying up to seven dogs had died there. Bayer was a former customer, according to the suit.

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”Lots of dogs have been killed there,” Hardin wrote on Feb. 7, according to the suit. On Feb. 13, she added, “If I can save one dog from being killed, I will.”

In the suit, The Dog Spot's attorney said “these posts and comments are false, malicious and libelous” and said the women wrote them “in an effort to illicit public hatred, contempt and wrath.”

Daniel Horwitz, a Nashville lawyer representing Hardin, slammed the suit as a "transparent attempt to silence The Dog Spot's many deeply unhappy customers."

Customers have previously complained to the media about a dog dying at the East Nashville business.

"The Dog Spot is about to learn a very expensive lesson about free speech, and we look forward to seeing them in court for a short period of time and exposing this ridiculous lawsuit for the sham that it is,” Horwitz said in a statement.

The Dog Spot has locations in East Nashville, Mt. Juliet and West Nashville near The Nations. Last year the company announced plans to open a downtown location.

Reach Adam Tamburin at atamburin@tennessean.com and 615-726-5986. Follow him on Twitter @tamburintweets.