Watch out for those words, it could cost you thousands of dollars. A woman from Virginia , Jane Perez, wrote a negative review on Yelp. The review was for Dietz Development, a contracting company that apparently worked on Perez’s home. Christopher Dietz, the owner of the company, is now suing Perez for $750,000. In a filing made by Dietz last month, Dietz is accusing Perez of Internet defamation, saying, “Plaintiffs have been harmed by these statements, including lost work opportunities, insult, mental suffering, being placed in fear, anxiety, and harm to their reputations.”
In her review on Yelp, Perez wrote that Dietz Development damaged her house, charged her for work that wasn’t done, and even accused the company of stealing her jewelry. “Dietz Development was to perform: painting, refinish floors, electrical, plumbing and handyman work. I was instead left with damage to my home and work that had to be reaccomplished for thousands more than originally estimated,” writes Perez. “I found my jewelry missing and Dietz was the only one with a key,” she added.
On the other hand, Dietz says that he is suing Perez because the allegations were not true and that he has already lost$300,00 because his customers fled his business after reading the review. “The impact has been awful. There is no one to protect businesses when people slam their name,” he said. On Wednesday this week, Judge Thomas FortKort granted temporary injunction in favor of Dietz and ordered a portion of the review to be changed, particularly the “missing jewelry” portion. A police investigation found no connection between Perez’s missing jewelry and Dietz’s company. Interestingly, Perez and Dietz were actually classmates in high school.