I’m a level 5 contributor and received a summons today for a review I wrote about a company I received a service from. I gave them a 1 star and accurately detailed my experience and updated after a future conversation. Is there any info on what type of defense or how to defend this anywhere on google because I have been searching everywhere and can not find anything. In general I am contacting an attorney I just want to know if Google has info or addresses this issue with contributors ever.
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Hi @Twicellinda I am sorry you got sued. You might want to enlighten use where you are located as this is an international forums and laws and regulations vary between different countries. At this point, contacting a lawyer is probably a good first step.
The fact is anyone can initiate a law suit, it is a nuisance and can be a huge expense.
I don’t think Google shields reviewers.
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The lawsuit is in Miami Dade County Florida.
@Twicellinda This could be very interesting. Do you have any expectations about your possible expenses?
You can try tagging one of the Googler Moderators for help.
You can also take a look at an article @YK1001 had just posted.
Good luck
@WetCoastCanuck I think you should read terms and conditions more carefully
I know we are not Google employees or contractors… I have referred people to read the T&C multiple times.
It doesn’t mean Google won’t assist, they are not obligated to.
Never hurt to ask.
Besides If you read the clauses closely Google do own our text… so in a sense they are on the hook too
@WetCoastCanuck I do like your way of thinking
I am so sorry you have to go through this @Twicellinda
In all my years of studying law I can say the truth will always be on your side
Here’s an interesting article you may like to read https://dealnews.com/features/Can-a-Negative-Review-Get-You-Sued/1051185.html
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Wow! That’s scary! Hopefully you can keep us updated.
@Twicellinda can you link the place you reviewed, I would like to read your text.
If you’re telling the truth in your review and keep it exactly to your experience without any embellishment or drawing any conclusions you should be ok as @DiAnaUS says. That doesn’t mean you won’t have to go to court and it doesn’t mean you won’t be out of pocket. I would contact a lawyer right away.
The approach I personally would take is to go very very public and post copies of all the documentation online and make it available through your socials. The people on the socials are likely to start hassling the company, no-one likes bad publicity and will seek to make it go away. However, talk to a lawyer familiar with your local laws before you do anything.
One thing that might be interesting is that under the Google TOS everything has to be handled in the courts in California. That might put the company off doing anything if they have to travel.
I wrote a post recently about avoiding trouble from your reviews.
Regards
Paul
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Actually for Corporations, it is the plaintiff’s choice to decide where they sue. That’s one of the reasons why in the US, most of the court cases for IP infringements happen in Texas. It is one of the quirks of the US legal system. Another quirky thing is the plaintiff can serve summons at any corporate locations, I remember years ago some enterprising lawyers served one computer manufacturer’s pop up store in a very small mall. Of course the main corporate office didn’t get the summons until it is too late.
@PaulPavlinovich wrote:
One thing that might be interesting is that under the Google TOS everything has to be handled in the courts in California. That might put the company off doing anything if they have to travel.
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I bow to your knowledge of US law @WetCoastCanuck certainly not my area of expertise 
I just wanted to update everyone. I went to Mediation and they wanted me to cover court cost and remove my review I opted to go to trial. I had a hard time finding legal information but I was able to create a case. I did not want to incur the cost of an attorney the only Defamation attorneys that I was able to find in my area wanted $15000 retainers. The plaintive filed the case based on the grounds that I had lied about receiving a phone call from the technician in their company it was an appliance repair company. The plaintive filed the case based on the grounds that I had lied about receiving a phone call from the technician in their company it was an appliance repair company The documents that the plaintive filed with the court were not consistent and were not verifiable so I was therefore able to prove that I had not received a call by providing my phone records showing that I had not received a call. With that I was able to win the case as there was no false statement of fact. The way that my review was written showed that there was definitely no intent of malice And several of the other opinions that I had provided throughout the review were confirmed at trial. The cost incurred were 3 days of lost revenue from having to miss work but it was well worth it in the name of integrity and not being bullied by companies attempting to use the legal system to manipulate reviewers.
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That is awesome news @Twicellinda I’m sad you had to go through the process at all, but it is great that the legal system worked for you. Truth wins.
Regards Paul