“I do not believe a customer imagines that typing out a review of their experience followed by a few clicks can result in getting slapped with a $65,000 lawsuit,” said Jonathan Phillips, Ujimori’s attorney.If your video includes a slide show, decide whether to record yourself speaking so that the audience sees you as a frame-in-frame thumbnail or to record just the slide deck with a voiceover (SLAPP stands for “strategic lawsuits against public participation.”)
The District and more than half of the states, including Maryland, have one. Anti-SLAPP laws allow for the quick dismissal of cases a judge deems to be targeting First Amendment rights.
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Ujimori said she believes lawsuits such as Dog Tranquility’s are aimed at stifling free speech by forcing defendants to run up large legal bills. Ujimori said she wanted to go public with the case to try to spur Virginia legislators to pass what is known as an anti-SLAPP law. She helps train dogs to assist veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. She is the wife of a soldier and the mother of two young children. “I have to rely on these review sites as a major source of advertising.”ĭermott, 31, said her family depends on the business. “It had a significant impact in that I’m a small-business owner,” Dermott said of the negative reviews. The business owner said in an interview that she tried several different ways to satisfy Ujimori - including giving her a credit for a future class - but that nothing worked.
Dermott also claimed that the contract Ujimori signed had a no-refund clause. Yelp has since removed the review.ĭermott said in the lawsuit that she sent e-mails to Ujimori before the class started explaining that it would be a mixed group and that there was an optional gated-off area for small dogs. She said she requested a pro-rated refund but never got it. Ujimori said in her review that Yuki, then 14 weeks and four pounds, was put into a class with much older and larger dogs and isolated in a gated-off area away from other canines - not ideal for socialization. Ujimori, an employee of the federal government, said she wanted to socialize her dog because she hopes the white Bolognese will become a therapy dog for the elderly and sick children. The dispute began in January when Ujimori and her dog Yuki began attending a $175 basic obedience class. First Amendment advocates are watching that case closely. And the Virginia Supreme Court is expected to decide soon whether Yelp will be required to turn over the names of anonymous users who disparaged Alexandria’s Hadeed Carpet Cleaners. In 2012, a D.C.-based contractor sued a Fairfax woman for $750,000 over her one-star takedown of his work on her home. The reviews have become an increasingly important factor for companies, generating new customers - or sending them fleeing. Lawsuits over negative reviews have risen in recent years with the popularity of sites such as Yelp, Angie’s List and TripAdvisor that allow users to rate and provide feedback on businesses. Companies using the legal system to silence their critics has a chilling effect on First Amendment rights.” “People should be free to express their feelings about their service providers. “For me, it’s a matter of principle and public interest,” Ujimori said.
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