A disgruntled patient of a San Francisco chiropractor who was sued for posting a negative comment about the doctor's services on the popular peer-review website, yelp, recently reached a settlement with him.
This case is the first to sue a Yelp user for defamation for posting a bad review.
Yelp Inc., is a social networking, user review and local search website that is accessed by approximately 10.6 million people every month. It has gathered a lot of negative publicity over the fairness of the negative reviews on the site. Some business owners have alleged that the order in which reviews are placed is controlled and that this is used to pressurize them into advertising. Yelp has also been criticised over its alleged bias towards its sponsors whom it spares the humiliation of negative reviews by taking them off the website.
In the November of 2007, Christopher Norberg posted a review complaining of the billing practices of his chiropractor, Steven Biegel. He wrote that he had expected a bill for $125 but was instead sent a bill for $500. He also wrote that when questioned, his chiropractor could not give him a straight answer about the jump in price. What angered Biegel the most was Norberg's statement claiming that he had later found a much better, honest chiropractor.
In his libel lawsuit Biegel claimed that the post defamed him by suggesting that he was not honest.
On the website which he started to publicise the lawsuit, standforspeech.com, Norberg posted last Friday that 'a misunderstanding between both parties led us to act out of hand'. This statement came after the case was resolved through mediation.
To read more about the case click here.
This case is the first to sue a Yelp user for defamation for posting a bad review.
Yelp Inc., is a social networking, user review and local search website that is accessed by approximately 10.6 million people every month. It has gathered a lot of negative publicity over the fairness of the negative reviews on the site. Some business owners have alleged that the order in which reviews are placed is controlled and that this is used to pressurize them into advertising. Yelp has also been criticised over its alleged bias towards its sponsors whom it spares the humiliation of negative reviews by taking them off the website.
In the November of 2007, Christopher Norberg posted a review complaining of the billing practices of his chiropractor, Steven Biegel. He wrote that he had expected a bill for $125 but was instead sent a bill for $500. He also wrote that when questioned, his chiropractor could not give him a straight answer about the jump in price. What angered Biegel the most was Norberg's statement claiming that he had later found a much better, honest chiropractor.
In his libel lawsuit Biegel claimed that the post defamed him by suggesting that he was not honest.
On the website which he started to publicise the lawsuit, standforspeech.com, Norberg posted last Friday that 'a misunderstanding between both parties led us to act out of hand'. This statement came after the case was resolved through mediation.
To read more about the case click here.
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