Do I have an actionable case? If so what do I do?

[photog_mom]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

Trying to keep a long story short, so please bear with me. Shortly after I launched my photography business and website, last spring I started noticing some slanderous comments on various websites -- ripoff report, yelp, consumercomplaints, etc. Many others too. The person posed as a client but I knew based on what they were saying it wasn't really a client. They went from attacking my business, to attacking myself and my family, and made it known that they know me and my children. They even posted our home address and phone number in each negative posting. I have a 1" thick folder of all the print outs from these various websites. Person accused me of having a criminal record (false) being a drug addict (false) and of stalking my clients (of course, false). When you googled my name or the name of my business, it all came up. I can't even begin to imagine how much business I lost becuase of it. Not to mention the personal torment and fear.

I did not know who was doing this until yesterday. And I found out only because the person became careless. He had registered many different user names on these sites because each posting was written under a different name. I happened to click on the user name of one of his slanderous postings last night; that took me to a list of all of his complaints made on that site. There were only two -- mine, and another one against a real estate agent in another state. I clicked on that complaint and it was nearly identical to the slander he had written about me! I knew that this woman and I had a common link. I was able to track her down and told her about the situation. Neither of us had any idea who it could be but we decided we would email each other our contact lists and see if anyone matched up.

When I emailed her my list, she immediately wrote back 'THAT'S IT" and wrote the name of my brother-in-law's business, which I included on my list. He runs a shady business out of his garage. He and my husband had a falling out 12 years ago. My husband went on to become very successful financially while his brother continues to struggle. He wouldn't dare slander my husband because of my husband's high profile position and the company would quickly get involved; so I suspect he targeted me in hopes of upsetting my husband, and also never imagined I would figure out who was behind it. The other woman's connection to him is this: she had ordered something from his website and when it arrived broken, she asked for her money back, and he told her no. She went to her credit card company and they sided with her refunding her the money. Shortly after that, she too was the victim of online slander, and he said the same things about her as he did about me -- just substituting "real estate agent" for "photographer". He obviously did not realize he had posted twice using the same user name. He had so many different online identities that he must have lost track!

Previous to this, I had suspected it was him because I set up an online profile that captured the IP address and location of each person who looked at my profile. I noticed the same user from the same small town would often look at my profile and shortly after that another slanderous posting would appear... the town was where my brother in law lives. So it doesn't come as a complete surprise. But i had no proof until I spoke to the other woman who was victimized by him too.

I don't know what to do from here. I am almost in limbo not wanting to make a mistake. I want to sue him for libel, slander, whatever! I became so depressed at one point about the online attacks that I had to go for counseling, and as I said, I imagine I have lost alot of business. I'm a family photographer and anyone who googles my name would see horrible "reviews" about me. They are all the same writing style, same spelling errors, and same grammatical errors so it's easy to see that all of them are written by the same person. The slander is vicious and embarrassing and most importantly not true in any way, shape or form.

I am not sure what my options are. I would appreciate some feedback. I had considered filing a restraining order because I do fear him based on his aggressive postings about my children; on the other hand, he lives in another state, so would a judge grant it? And what type of attorney handles situations like this? I would just be happy to get him to stop writing this stuff and to get him to pay $3,000 to one of those reputation management companies that pushes down the negative comments to the 3rd page of google. On the other hand, I should sue for alot more because of the emotional damage and loss of business and the damage to my name! I've never been in a situation like this before and just don't know what to do or how to do it. Thanks in advance for your feedback and/or advice!

[quincy]

I recommend you take the print-outs and the information you have gathered about your brother-in-law and his possible involvement in the posts, and speak with a defamation attorney in your area. The attorney can review the online comments to determine their defamatory nature, and the attorney can recommend various courses of action you could take, including but not limited to the filing of a defamation suit against your brother-in-law.

Although your own "detective" work has led you to a pretty good suspicion as to who is defaming you and your business, you will probably need more proof of the identity of the poster/defamer in order to proceed with any suit - although you can file suit against "John Doe" until the websites in question release the real identity of the person posting the negative comments. To get the release of the real identity, you will need to subpoena the ISPs.

Because what is posted defames your business and injures your business reputation, the comments may be considered defamation per se in California, and no proof of injury or damages will be needed in order to be compensated for your presumed losses. The attorney you consult can let you know, after a review of the comments, whether he thinks a court would consider the comments per se defamation.

Even if the comments are defamatory per se, it helps to be able to show how your business has been injured, and how much economic or potential economic losses you have suffered as a result of the defamation.

Defamation actions are expensive to pursue, and there is no guarantee that a lawsuit you bring will be successful. Again, the attorney you consult can give you a better idea of the odds for a successful suit, and can suggest alternatives to a lawsuit (a cease-and-desist letter threatening a lawsuit if the defamatory material is not removed, for instance).

Good luck.

[photog_mom]

thank you! i am off to find a defamation attorney... i appreciate your response.

[quincy]

You're welcome, photog_mom.

And I should add that it would also be defamatory per se to falsely accuse a person of a crime (ie. having a criminal record, being a drug addict). Statements like these presume reputational injury and damages are awardable on this presumed injury.

Good luck.

[photog_mom]

oh that is good to know! yes, he made those statements on many of the websites, presumabley to keep people from hiring me. again really grateful for your expertise. i hope i can find a defamation attorney in my area; if you happen to know of one in the SF Bay area please let me know.

[quincy]

We can't give attorney recommendations here, but you can go to [url=http://www.calbar.ca.gov/]The State Bar of California[/url] for advice and direction or, to narrow your search to the San Francisco area, you can go to [url=http://www.sfbar.org]The Bar Association of San Francisco[/url].