Living in a supposedly ‘free’ country, you may think posting stuff online freely is your ‘inalienable right’. Getting into legal trouble due to a Google review? No way! That sounds ridiculous. Well, not exactly. Because this is what happened to Ms P.
Ms P was a patient at a periodontics clinic in Victoria. Due to her poor manners and her repeated cancellation of pre-booked appointments, Dr D terminated their doctor-patient relationship. Ms P feeling upset and holding personal grudge, decided to publish four Google reviews online in the review section of the clinic. The reviews laid a number of unfounded accusations, including Dr D being unprofessional, bullish, and insensitive to patients’ financial predicament. The fourth review also falsely claimed that Dr D had apologised to Ms P. As a result of these inaccurate reviews, Dr D’s reputation, psychological health and physical health all suffered. Dr D sued Ms P for defamation. The Victorian County Court found Ms P’s publication of these reviews did amount to defamation and ordered her to pay Dr D $170,000 as compensation.
Of course, cases like this should not stop you from posting Google reviews. However, your reviews must be substantially true, or reflect your honest opinion. If you solely intend to use a baseless negative Google review to damage one’s reputation, when the review itself does not contain much truth, a claim (that potentially can ruin your life) might come your way.
If you have already done something similar, or if you are a business or a professional that has experienced something similar, seek legal advice ASAP.
