legal corner
Recourse for a Bad Review
by Joseph McGregor
S ooner or later , every dental practice owner has to deal with a bad online review . Every so often , one of our clients reaches out to us to see if there ’ s any legal recourse for a bad review . Usually these reviews come from disgruntled clients , but sometimes they are posted by disgruntled employees .
Opinion v . Falsehood
The first question that needs to be answered is : Is the bad review verifiably false or is it someone ’ s opinion ? Unfortunately there is no legal recourse against someone ’ s opinion , no matter how ugly or off-base . If the review complains that the hygienist smelled like moldy hay and the dentist told bad jokes , that ’ s all a matter of opinion . There ’ s nothing you can do about it . On the other hand , if the review states that the dentist extracted the wrong tooth , that ’ s a verifiable fact .
Realistic relief
The legal relief most clients expect is called defamation . To prove defamation , you need to prove that a false statement was made and that it caused harm or damages . Therefore , a poor review that falsely claims that you sing off key when you do dentistry , although ( hopefully ) verifiably false , would be unlikely to cause harm and therefore difficult to prove defamation . If you decide to sue for defamation , you ’ ll need to prove a direct link between the harm you ’ re alleging and the bad review .
There is also a legal argument called defamation per se , which claims that some false statements can be so damaging on their face that you don ’ t need to link the statement to specific harm . There are four main categories tied to defamation per se , but the one relevant to our discussion is statements that a person was involved in behavior incompatible with the proper conduct of his business , trade , or profession . Put more plainly : If you say a dentist doesn ’ t know what he ’ s doing , even if that is arguably an opinion , it is so damaging that you may be able to make a legal claim .
A typical follow up question we get from clients is : What if the review is anonymous ? If your case is strong enough , courts have shown that they are willing to require that a review forum ( i . e . Google , Yelp , etc .) peel back the anonymity of the reviewer so they can be held accountable . Although courts have done this in the past , it is difficult to get and usually only happens in the most egregious cases . Personally , I find it an unproductive and prohibitively expensive pursuit .
The road to recourse
If you decide to pursue legal remedies , where should you start ? Typically , the first legal action to take is to send a demand letter demanding the reviewer to take down the bad review . If they decline to do so , you can then sue . It ’ s important to remember that lawsuits are expensive and time intensive . Unless you can prove that the review is having a devastating impact on your
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