QUESTION

Hello, can i rate a company in google.com as i want or do I have to have a strong reason to rate 1 out of 5 stars?

Asked on Mar 07th, 2020 on Business Law - Colorado
More details to this question:
Our neighbor had a fraud going on in our apartment and whole house money. After it came out i wrote it in google.com since she has a company for accounting. (Really small one though). I also rated it 1 stars. A day ago her daughter who also deals with the companys stuff messaged me to delete the review or she will take it to court since its false because her company has nothing to do with the accounting of our house. So i did delete the review but kept the 1/5 stars. Now she threatens to take it to court, can she do that or no?
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1 ANSWER

Appellate Practice Attorney serving New York, NY
Defamation invovles a false statement of fact which harms another's reputation and causes them monetary damage.  Depending on what false infomration was communicated, the plaintiff may have to prove monetary damages, or they may be presumed.  Either way, however, only statements of fact can be defamatory, not statements of opinion.  Your rating could be viewed as a statement of opinion, but if I were the daughter, I would argue that your rating contains an implied statement of fact that you had dealt with that business and had an unsatisfactory interaction which, based on the facts you've recited, is false.  I don't know that this argument would succeed, and I also don't know if this statement would fbe considered defamation per se (the type where the defamed party need not prove monetary damages) but it is possible.  Thus, although it is likely that the daugher is bluffing and/or that you would prevail in any lawsuit, the safest course of action is probably to remove the rating.
Answered on Mar 09th, 2020 at 3:12 PM

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