We have a massive case against the Better Business Bureau pending on behalf of a contractor who feels the BBB is “pay for play’. The case can be found in Maricopa County Superior Court at CV 2013-007803. Our case will be set for trial soon. Yet, Virginia’s highest court ruled on Thursday that Yelp doesn’t have to disclose the identities of online users accused by a small business owner of posting fraudulent negative reviews about his carpet-cleaning company. The claim before the court looked at a complaint brought by the owner of Hadeed Carpet Cleaning in Springfield. The owner claimed his suburban business was hit by a bunch of harsh Yelp reviews. That summer, he sued seven reviewers for defamation and demanded that Yelp disclose their identities. This is NOT like our BBB case because it is what the BBB did after the complaints is what is at issue.
The owner claimed the reviews were posted by competitors and says sales plummeted after the comments were posted. Yelp argued that without proof of his claims, the users had a First Amendment right to post anonymously. A state trial court and the Virginia Court of Appeals sided with the owner, holding Yelp in contempt for not turning over the names. The company then took its case to the Virginia Court. The justices reviewing the case concluded that the lower-court judge lacked the authority to make Yelp unmask the reviewers.
States the opinion:
In sum, we conclude that the circuit court was not empowered to enforce the non-party subpoena duces tecum directing Yelp to produce documents located in California in connection with the owner’s underlying defamation action against the John Doe defendants in the Virginia circuit court . . .
Although the General Assembly has expressly authorized Virginia courts to exercise personal jurisdiction over nonresident parties, it has not expressly authorized Virginia courts to compel nonresident non-parties to produce documents located outside of Virginia.
“The decision is a blow to Virginia small businesses,” Mr. Hadeed’s attorney, Raighne Delaney, told Law Blog by email. He said he could still petition for a rehearing.
Yelp’s litigation director, Aaron Schur, posted a statement about the ruling on the company’s official blog.
“This case highlights the need for stronger online free speech protection in Virginia and across the country,” he said. “Businesses that want to bully and intimidate customers who express displeasure with less than stellar consumer experiences should not be able to obtain their personal information without providing sufficient evidence that they have been wronged, which Hadeed failed to do in this case.”
At the law firm of William A. Miller, PLLC in Scottsdale we ‘get the nuances’ of this type of litigation. We are happy to look over your BBB problems with their arbitrary reporting or if someone is not telling the truth about your business on Yelp, Google, etc. Call us at 602-319-6899 or stop by at 8170 North 86th Place, suite 208 Scottsdale, AZ 85258 for coffee and a chat. We also handle, Breach of contract, Non-compete agreements, Non-disclosure agreements, Employee theft and embezzlement, Insurance purchases and enforcement of policy coverage, Negotiation and/or enforcement of commercial leases, Negligence and gross negligence resulting in losses, Intentional acts causing a company to suffer damages, Tortious interference with contractual relationships, Unjust enrichment, Real Estate fraud, Consumer fraud, Conversion/Theft, Intentional and/or negligent misrepresentation, Business torts and Real estate title & escrow.

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