An Ohio family-owned business is suing a woman after she left a negative review on Google.
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Starr Manufacturing Inc., a company that manufactures industrial equipment, filed a defamation suit against Julie Watson, who lives in Columbus. People obtained a copy of the legal complaint, which was filed on August 12 in the Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas.
Per the complaint, Watson’s public Google review “falsely and maliciously made claims” that the company “had various quality and manufacturing failures with multiple customers.”
According to both the complaint and review, Watson claimed she “could provide names and addresses of additional people who could confirm these manufacturing issues.”
As a result of the review, the company said the business sustained damages and “significant reputational harm,” the complaint states.
Watson will “continue to post and/or publish the false and malicious allegations” against them if she isn’t stopped legally, the company believes.
Starr Manufacturing is seeking over $25,000 in damages. The exact amount will be determined at trial. They are also seeking court costs and attorney fees.
Thomas Nader, the attorney representing Starr Manufacturing in the lawsuit, shared a statement with the outlet claiming that the reasoning behind Watson’s review isn’t as simple as it appears.
“The defendant is not a customer of Starr Manufacturing and has never been a customer of Starr Manufacturing,” Nader claims.
“This was the result of a personal relationship between the defendant and an employee of Starr Manufacturing,” he said, adding the lawsuit “is not about Starr Manufacturing being upset about a bad review from a customer. This is a personal vendetta.”