Texas Couple Sued For Negative Yelp Review: Is This Legal?

We are living in an age where businesses are becoming hyper aware of the power of online reviews and their ability for negative ones to sink their company.

If you need evidence of this take a look at the most recent example of a Texas couple who were slapped with a $6,700 lawsuit by pet sitting company Prestigious Pets for leaving the business a one star review on Yelp.

The couple complained about the poor care of their pets and alleged billing mistakes on the popular review site. Later they were shocked to learn that they unknowingly signed a non-disparagement clause in a service contract with Prestigious Pets, one which they claimed to have never read.

Related: Is Yelp ruining mom and pop businesses?

A non-disparagement cause means that a customer is barred from taking any actions against a business that would negatively affect their bottom line. The legality of such clauses in the U.S. — also called gag clauses — has been called into question by the U.S. government. Currently, some courts uphold the clause and others consider it void, meanwhile the U.S. Senate introduced a bill in 2015 that would render gag clauses null across the country.

All of this points to a much larger issue though. Why are gag clauses even needed?

If you run a decent business offering quality products and services, AND you collect feedback during a customer’s point-of-sale, you should theoretically avoid almost all cases where a negative online review would rear its ugly head. The key is to prevent a one star review in the first place — and this is a very achievable goal with an effective customer feedback tool.

Related: Why was this chef praised for slamming a TripAdvisor reviewer?

In the mean time, businesses that fail in this regard will likely continue to sneakingly insert bogus gag clauses into service contracts, or worse, sue customers for defamation when clauses aren’t present.

In addition to the Texas couple, there are several examples of U.S. customers who have been sued by businesses for posting negative comments on review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor. Some of these customers signed a non-disparagement clause and other didn’t.

Here are just a few cases:

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Lawyer vs. Former Client

Year: Florida 2016

The case: A lawyer who represented a couple during their divorce proceedings ended up suing the couple after she discovered they both posted false comments about her services on Avvo, Google, and Yellow Pages once their divorce was over.

The result: A court ordered the couple to pay $350,000 in punitive damages.

Flooring Company vs. Customer

Year: New York 2015

The case: A woman posted disparaging remarks about a flooring company on Yelp complaining about dull and discolored floors they refinished. She was hit with a lawsuit by the company’s owner for using terms like “liar” and “scammer” in her review.

The result: A judge ordered the woman to pay the flooring company $1,000 in damages.

Towing Company vs. Customer

Year: Michigan 2010

The case: A university student created a Facebook page slagging a towing business which removed his car from his apartment complex, despite having a permit. The page’s popularity soared with close to 14,000 members. The business responded with a $750,000 defamation lawsuit, meanwhile the young man filed a countersuit.

The result: Both sides agreed to drop their cases, with neither party having to pay anything.

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If there is one takeaway from the above cases it is that companies should actively work to combat negative reviews before they occur. Despite these businesses having won their cases, no doubt they would rather have avoided the court fees and family time lost.