In the United States, the law states that anyone accused of committing a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Unfortunately, the public has a tendency to make up its own mind before all of the facts are available. Because of this, a lawsuit, if its allegations are untrue or not…
No one likes being the scapegoat in a messy situation. Unfortunately, when large companies lose a lot of money, or don’t make as much as they had anticipated, their first recourse is often to find someone to blame. In the case of Walgreens’s recent $1 billion alleged forecasting error, the…
Consumers have long relied on recommendations from friends and family before buying products and services, and businesses have risen and fallen like empires on this tradition of word of mouth. Then, the Internet brought about the ability to broadcast your opinion of a business to practically everyone in the world,…
Although there are laws in place to prevent entities and citizens from harmful comments, such laws have to tread carefully to avoid stepping on the toes of the First Amendment to our constitution. The line got even thinner when the Internet was developed. Now people are free to broadcast their…
Although many people feel that they may have a greater degree of freedom on the Internet due to its anonymous nature, virtually anything posted online can be traced back to the original IP address which was used to upload the content. That IP address can often be used to identify…
Although laws do exist to protect companies and individuals from harmful false statements, judges enforcing these laws must be careful not to violate the defendant’s right to free speech. If a plaintiff believes that a defendant’s actions are causing harm, and must be stopped immediately, there are certain forms of…
The law recognizes that public figures are more likely to be the subject of defamatory statements than private citizens. This is especially true when a public figures dies suddenly and unexpectedly. Amid rumors surrounding the recent death of the actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman, was a report in the National Enquirer…
Many employers will not hire an employee if it is known that the employee has filed for bankruptcy or is suffering from debt. This can then harm the employee’s ability to make money in order to escape her debt. This allegedly happened with the famous basketball player, Scottie Pippin. Since…
While the law can protect citizens against defamation, there are limits to the kinds of statements which are considered defamatory. Generally speaking, a statement must be made publicly in order to be actionable under defamation law. Under most circumstances, any reports that an airline makes to the Transportation Security Administration…
In the world of defamation, there have long been two categories, which until recently, have covered all forms of defamation: slander, which includes any verbal defamation of a person or entity and; libel, which covers any defamatory comments made in writing. Now, with the growth of communicating over the internet,…