The internet libel suits keep on coming — this time against an anonymous commenter who pissed off an Oregon doctor.
Dr. Dann Leonard, who specializes in plastic surgery from his office in Salem, filed suit June 30 in Multnomah County Circuit Court against an unknown “Jane Doe” who ripped Leonard on the website ratemds.com.
The current page rating Leonard on the site contains only positive reviews. But according to the lawsuit, last fall a commenter there falsely accused Leonard of “performing poor work, maintaining a cold and unfriendly waiting area, keeping pictures of abused patients, employing unfriendly and untrained staff, and having an outdated office and equipment.”
As we’ve previously noted, the law generally protects website owners from being sued for what comments say. But the law offers less protection for the commenters themselves.
The lawsuit, filed by Portland lawyer Aaron Ferriera, seeks $100,000 for Leonard’s lost business plus $50,000 for Leonard’s “mental anguish and distress, damage to his reputation, humiliation, anger, frustration, stress and loss of standing in the community.”
The lawsuit was filed against “Jane Doe” and will be amended, it says, upon discovery of the commenter’s true name.
Read about more Juicy Suits here.
I’d like to say ‘What a frickin ass’, but don’t want to cause him loss of standing in the community.
Or my money, for that matter.
Isn’t it unnecessary lawsuits that are driving up the cost of healthcare?
What a dips4!t!!
How could this guy possibly think that:
a) a single poor review among otherwise exclusively good reviews would be so harmful that it warrants a (frivolous) lawsuit, and
b) that he would come out of this pursuit looking like anything other than an ass.
My opinion of him and his judgment is more greatly affected by this legal action than a single negative review.