Handing out leaflets outside a doctor's building

[Silverplum]

So by that example, every person posting a bad review on Yelp needs to be very careful on how they word their review so that they won't be sued? Sounds like everybody would be afraid to speak up if that were true.

Correct.

...

 

[dannydanush]

Tell your story. There are tons of babycenter and facebook forums to share your story. Expect that if you or an agent attempt to hand out flyers in front of the doctor's office, the minimum you'd be looking at is a trespassing charge, and a slander lawsuit is also a possibility, unless and until you successfully win a med mal suit.

Thank you. Last question - how is telling my story on Facebook, etc. different than handing out flyers? Legally speaking, of course.

 

[dannydanush]

Well, you've been warned, more than once.

Go forth into the world.

I respect your opinion. I'm just trying to understand the reasoning.

 

[Silverplum]

I respect your opinion. I'm just trying to understand the reasoning.

We already explained the reasons.

 

[cbg]

So by that example, every person posting a bad review on Yelp needs to be very careful on how they word their review so that they won't be sued? Sounds like everybody would be afraid to speak up if that were true.

Damn straight they do.

 

[I'mTheFather]

Just to underscore the point:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/750k-lawsuit-over-yelp-review-will-go-to-trial/2014/01/26/63e9d372-8539-11e3-8099-9181471f7aaf_story.html
http://www.eater.com/2014/9/11/6157489/steakhouse-sues-yelp-for-identity-of-libelous-reviewer

 

[Nellibelle]

Tell your story. There are tons of babycenter and facebook forums to share your story. Expect that if you or an agent attempt to hand out flyers in front of the doctor's office, the minimum you'd be looking at is a trespassing charge, and a slander lawsuit is also a possibility, unless and until you successfully win a med mal suit.

The OP could easily avoid a tresspass charge by passing out his flyers on public land (sidewalk)! As long as the OP walks up and down the sidewalk in front of or nearby, handing out flyers, there is no danger of tresspassing!

 

[Zigner]

The OP could easily avoid a tresspass charge by passing out his flyers on public land (sidewalk)! As long as the OP walks up and down the sidewalk in front of or nearby, handing out flyers, there is no danger of tresspassing!

Let's just hope the OP can figure out who owns what, right?

 

[PaulMass]

I need to know what is the best way to do this legally.

The best way to do it legally is to prepare the leaflet and run it by an attorney for an opinion as to whether it is actionable. Although truth is a defense to a defamation action, the burden would be on you to prove the statement is true. For example, you wrote here that you feel this may be malpractice. Malpractice is a legal conclusion, not merely a statement of fact. If you have a judgment that says the doc committed malpractice, your pretty safe making that statement. Without that judgment, you are making a conclusion that you may not be able to support.

You also need to figure out how you will pay your employee to stand on the corner and hand out these leaflets. You may need to provide workers compensation insurance and withhold taxes and social security from his or her pay, and do whatever filings are necessary when you have employees.

The reason people get away with things like this on yelp and other websites is because it is difficult (expensive) to prove who actually wrote the bad review.

 

[quincy]

Here is a link to the ACLU's "Know Your Rights - Free Speech, Protests, and Demonstrations in California:"

http://www.aclus.org/our-work/know-your-rights/know-your-rights-free-speech-protests-and-demonstrations-california

There is more for you to consider, dannydanush, than simply whether you are on a public sidewalk or not when distributing your leaflets. Although trespassing is something you need to avoid (which means you will need to know what is public and what is private property), you will also need to know if a permit is required under your local ordinances (it probably will be) before you can distribute your leaflets. There will be reasonable "time, place and manner" restrictions, so you do not disrupt the public or disturb those who work in the doctor's office.

Your concern, seeing as how you placed this in the defamation section, appears to be what you can and cannot say about the doctor. Anything you write in your leaflets or that you say to passers-by should be provably true or pure opinion (opinion that does not state or imply any false facts). If you are able to state ONLY the facts of the experience your wife and child had during childbirth, without exaggerating these facts or embellishing these facts or inventing facts or implying false facts or generalizing or drawing conclusions about the doctor from your single personal experience, you might avoid defaming the doctor - but you will not necessarily avoid legal action being taken against you.

You have to remember that you will be handling a professional's reputation, and these reputations are valuable. Harming the doctor's reputation can be costly.

I am sorry your wife and your child had a difficult time. It is best for you to review the facts of your child's birth with a malpractice attorney before making negative public statements about the doctor. You should be able to find an attorney in your area willing to go over the facts of the birth and to also go over with you all of the risks you face in distributing leaflets that make derogatory comments about a professional person, especially when this professional person has not been sued for malpractice and has not been charged with any crime.

The ACLU link provides an outline of your rights and your risks. The attorney you see can help fill in this outline.

 

[You Are Guilty]

And while we're on the subject, there are also several business torts one could potentially run afoul of.

e.g., https://www.justia.com/trials-litigation/docs/caci/2200/2201.html

 

[quincy]

And while we're on the subject, there are also several business torts one could potentially run afoul of.

e.g., https://www.justia.com/trials-litigation/docs/caci/2200/2201.html

Yup. There is a whole lot for dannydanush to consider before heading out to distribute leaflets.

On the whole, the plan (while it can be done legally) is not a very good one.

Better than the leaflets (but not better than consulting with an attorney in his area) would be for him to file a complaint with the state medical board. They will conduct an investigation. With this, too, though, dannydanush needs to stick to the facts of his personal experience only (and he should be sure of these facts).