Can I be sued for this? Can I counter-sue?

[KITT45]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Kansas
I have recently received a summons that I'm being sued by a company for libel. This company actually committed fraud in a dealing I had with them (they sold me a certain manufacturer's product, but ended up giving me a knock-off) so I posted about this experience on internet sites which you can write of any experience (negative or positive) about nearly any company in the area. So now this company is trying to sue me for libel. Everything I posted was and is 100% true. Nothing exaggerated, embellished, fabricated, etc. The plaintiff even included one post as an exhibit where somebody posted an experience just like what I went through (it could easily be mistaken for me), but I didn't even write it. They also included an e-mail from someone who works for one of these web sites verifying I wrote the messages. However, the gentleman who wrote the verification spelled both my first and last name wrong in his verification; and I never used my real name (or the misspelled version) when registering a screen name. The business is claiming I am costing them a 5-digit amount right in the middle of 0-100k through these posts I made. I have no clue what this amount is even based on or how he could prove the comments even cost him any business. Does he have a case? And do review sites log IP addresses so I can prove I didn't write one of the comments in question - or that they can prove I even wrote some of these? I also have witnesses to the crime the company committed as well as the manufacturer (see below) to back up these posts they're suing me for.

Can I counter-sue for all of the emotional distress? The fraud which the company committed nearly ruined my wedding and now this summons just adds to it as I can't sleep at all night now. The manufacturer of the product the company sold me verified the company did in fact sell me a "knock-off" of their product. Before I received the "knock-off" and the fraud was discovered, I received e-mails from the business owner that he was in communication with the manufacturer about my product (when he obviously never was) - I still have these e-mails - thus showing that the fraud was committed intentionally. I also still have my receipt showing that he sold me this manufacturer's product. The manufacturer took action against the company and forced them to refund my money. I don't think that ever made it to court. I haven't brought suit up for this incident at all as well.

 

[Some Random Guy]

If the only thing that the company has done is sue you, then you have no case. Court filings are generally exempt from libel/defamation actions. But if they are saying these things about you in public and are causing you some damages (job loss, etc.) then you may have something.

Talk to a lawyer about your options. See if there is any other angle to pursye that would pay for your defense.

 

[KITT45]

Thanks for the reply. I'd greatly appreciate the advice of anyone else as well. Just trying to get as much feedback/input as I can.

 

[quincy]

Review sites (like Rip-Off Report) will reveal your identity in response to a court order to do so.

To obtain the identity of an anonymous poster from a website through a court order, however, the person requesting the order must demonstrate to the court that their cause of action could survive a motion for summary judgment based on the elements of the claim already in evidence. If the company can meet most of the elements required for a defamation action to be successful - publication, identification, defamation, fault, injury - the order would be issued.

You cannot sue or countersue over emotional distress that arises only from the fact that you are being sued. Emotional distress (or tort of outrage) claims are extremely difficult to pursue with any success, anyway. In Kansas, you would have to establish that the conduct by this company was accompanied by or resulted in physical injury, and the physical injuries were the direct and proximate result of the emotional distress caused by the company's negligent conduct.

There is an exception to the physical injury requirement, if it can be shown that the company acted in a willful (intent to injure) or wanton (knowledge of probable injury) manner.

I would have your situation and your postings reviewed by an attorney, as Some Random Guy suggests. It is hard to say, without seeing what exactly you wrote about the company, whether the company has a legitimate defamation claim against you or not.