Ruined By A Review: Be Careful What You Post Online

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PLANTATION (CBSMiami) – Online reviews have become a norm in society.  But can a review go too far? One South Florida man is being sued for what he allegedly posted. CBS4's David Sutta took a closer look at what you should know before you press submit.

David Colen looked back at his computer screen, wondering what he did wrong.

"As mean as people can be, you've got a right to be in this country. This is not China, North Korea or Cuba. I hate you. You suck. You are fat. This pizza stinks. You're ugly. You have the stupidest dog I have ever seen in my life. Your car is ugly," he said.

Passionately he continued, "Those are opinions. And the way I understand, the first amendment to the Constitution is you are entitled to say your opinion."

Colen has a lot of opinions these days about what is happening to him.

Colen, a web designer, is at the center of a defamation lawsuit – one that is costing him a lot of money, time and stress.

It all started when he got his dog neutered at Vetfield Clinic in Plantation.

He said a flyer advertised $77 for the job, but his bill was $132.

"They forced me to pay $132 before they give me my puppy back, 7 months old, held him hostage.  Literally they held him hostage," Colen said.

He filed a dispute with his bank and got his money back. Vetfield decided to put it behind them.

Six months later though, a website appeared on the internet detailing the entire ordeal and calling the veterinarian "a deceptive, sneaky, immoral, and greedy veterinarian, a flat-out thug."

Omar Saleh, the veterinarian's son, was upset when he saw it.

"There is a line. Reviews are one thing. Publishing websites using the name of a business, using statements that suggest an egregious pattern of criminal activity or suggest conduct that is not compatible with someone's trade or profession, we believe that that crosses the line," said Saleh who is an attorney.

He looked up the owner of the site and found the phone number listed was Colen's business.

He said he told Colen to take the site down or he would file a lawsuit.

According to Colen, there was only one problem.

Colen explained, "I didn't make the website. I didn't ask anybody to make the website."

Who made the website?

"A kid named Jonathan Black. He was a programmer I first met when I had in office out in Fort Lauderdale. He said he was visiting the country. He talked funny, he said he was from Australia," Colen said.

Colen said Black took it upon himself to make the site, but Black is by all accounts in the wind.

"He could be on the moon right now. He could be across the street. I don't know," Colen said.

Saleh wasn't amused and filed his lawsuit to shut down the site.

A short time later, new websites bashing Vetfield surfaced on the internet. And that's not all – new sites appeared that went after Saleh's practice.

CBS4 asked Saleh who he believes did the websites.

"We believe it's an alias of David Colen," he responded.

Saleh believes Jonathan Black is really David Colen and that he is behind all the sites.

"The reason we believe that is this is not the first time that David Colen has been sued for defamation.  In fact this is the third time," Saleh explained.

When CBS4 relayed that to Colen he denied being involved.

"I have nothing to do with it, I told him that." Colen said.

Colen said the previous cases are not even remotely related.

So far, however, the court has agreed with Saleh ordering at least one site removed from the internet.

Why? The websites name.

"He crossed the line when he published a website under the name vetfieldanimalhospital.com,"  Saleh said.

The web address could be mistaken for Vetfield's actual website, misleading potential customers.

David Pollack, a defamation attorney, argues you can express your opinion online as much as you like. However, you do so at your own risk.

"What people won't say to your face, they'll say to a computer. And that's the real danger and the real risk because they think nothing will ever come of it. Things come of it," Pollack said.

Where is the line?

Pollack told CBS4, "I think anything that is capable of being proven or disproven as a fact is if you can prove that fact is untrue, then you've got a case for defamation."

In other words, calling someone a murderer when they haven't been even arrested for murder could be defamation.  Or in the case of this website, saying the veterinarian was "a thief."

"You can call somebody a dirt bag. You can call somebody stupid. But my opinion, what you can't do is call someone a criminal, especially where no criminal activity has taken place," Saleh said.

Colen feels differently about it.

"Hey you're the scum of the earth. Is that defamatory?  It's just a stupid innocuous name calling," he said. "Okay, it's not nice, but it's not actionable."

And while Colen said he's not responsible, he is fighting to keep the sites up.

To avoid getting caught up in dispute like this, Pollack recommends you think before you post.

"You can destroy somebody with a press of a button. When you think about it, you can destroy, they have a business. I mean that's someone's livelihood. That isn't just, that livelihood puts food on that person's table. It feeds their family. There is a whole slew of collateral damage that arises from statements that people don't think about when they are looking at a computer screen," he said.

CBS4 attempted to reach out to Jonathan Black to prove his existence.

He sent CBS4 a handful of e-mails and a scan of a driver's license. However, all the information was blacked out.

CBS4 also received an affidavit allegedly from Black. It was notarized in India, which CBS4 could not verify.

Again when you are posting online, opinions are usually fine.  But some statements that can be proven false could get you in trouble.