First Amendment rights at heart of lawsuit against woman who left ‘damaging’ online review

It may not occur to you before you write an online review that you can be sued for what you say or be fired for it. After all, the First Amendment gives you “freedom of speech,” right?

But if anyone can say anything and amplify it on social media, where’s your right to privacy? And when can you get some serious trouble for just hitting “Send”?

Mandy Wells said the Fort Myers roofing company she hired, Marlin Construction Group, never got started on the job. She has been living under a tarp for close to a year, she said.

“There was never any materials ordered so nothing was ever done.”

When she told them to get lost, they sent her a bill, she said.

“They want me to pay $6,084.”

When she posted about the problem online, they sued her for defamation.

“Well, they’re suing me because they didn’t like it.”

But Marlin claims Wells damaged them with her online reviews.

“I don’t think anything I wrote here is unreasonable,” she said.

Bob Goodman, Wells’ attorney, said, “You can just sue anybody for anything,” and he’s confident they’ll win.

“They’ll file a lawsuit for defamation, and a lot of people will simply just remove the comment, which is what… what usually the purpose of the lawsuit is.”

But why would anyone have to defend themselves in an expensive lawsuit for leaving a review or speaking their mind? Doesn’t the First Amendment guarantee free speech?

“Are you allowed to say anything you want to at any time? Kind of? Yes, you are. But there are consequences for what you say,” said attorney Pam Seay.

She isn’t involved in the case, but said your First Amendment rights are largely captured in its first five words: Congress shall pass no law.

Beyond the government, private citizens and companies can react to what you say however they want, including firing you, or if they feel you damaged them with something that isn’t true, suing you.

“At some point, it’s going to happen,” Seay said. “It will come to a head and the companies will say that’s enough, we’ve had it, we put our lifeblood into this company and one little person with a computer is trying to ruin me.”

Attorney Scott Hertz represents Marlin Construction Group in their case against Wells.

“Certainly, people have the right to make complaints, but nobody has the right to make false complaints,” he said.

Hertz said Wells is the one who broke the contract.

“Clearly it’s her intent to create the impression that Marlin refused to do the work, not that she refused to allow them to do the work.”

What the word “work” means is one of the reasons this is going to court.
 
“I didn’t say anything disparaging about them,” Wells said.

She said she only posted the facts: She hired Marlin Construction Group to deal with her insurance company and get her a new roof after wind damage. She said they never did the work but wouldn’t release the claim on her insurance company so she could hire someone else.

“But that how it’s misleading,” Hertz said. “Marlin did go out and do physical work. Marlin went on her roof. Marlin made measurements. Marlin prepared an estimate; preparing an estimate is work.”

Therefore, Marlin said, Wells’ online review that they did no work was wrong and damaging to the company.

“You need to make sure what you’re saying is accurate, that it is true,” Seay said.

In this case, a judge and jury may have to decide what’s true and who has been damaged.

So, what can you safely post? Almost anything, including your opinion – as long as it’s based on truth.

But keep in mind that truth means factually true, not just something you believe, so choose your words carefully.

“Yeah, I don’t care what they say,” Wells said. “It doesn’t matter the things that they make up or the words they want to twist because there’s none of that anywhere in anything that I wrote.”

The bottom line is it’s headed to a judge and maybe a trial. While we can’t predict how the case will come out, we want you to know we uncovered several complaints against Marlin Construction Group. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) gives them an “F” rating because of a “pattern of complaints,” many of which reference “people being approached and encouraged to file an insurance claim and issues related to that claim.”

State Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office sent us 14 complaints about Marlin, which they’re looking into. Some of those also relate to working with insurance companies.

Marlin’s attorney said those are largely related to a problem with an employee that has been fixed.

Do your research before you hire any contractor.