A business in Northeast Ohio is suing a woman over an allegedly fraudulent one-star review that she published on Google.
Starr Manufacturing Inc., a gas production equipment manufacturer in Vienna, Ohio, has filed a defamation lawsuit against a Columbus woman in the Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas. The company is seeking more than $25,000 in damages, according to Law Commentary.
The lawsuit claims that the woman "knowingly, maliciously, and intentionally" left a review on Google that was "false" and "defamatory" in March.
The complaint does not include the language of the actual review. However, NBC4 found a review posted by a woman named Julie Watson. The woman named in the lawsuit is also named Julie Watson.
“This company’s work has faced a host of quality control issues lately owing to contracting with shoddy subs, resulting in time consuming field updates required on multiple well pad sites to fix issues like bolts and fasteners being connected improperly or not screwed down tightly enough, and lack of oversight to identify where the breaches even occurred with the subs," the alleged review reads. "Can provide locations and names of additional people to contact to confirm recent production and quality failures. Would recommend doing business anywhere and with anyone else.”
The lawsuit alleges that Watson’s claims are lies and that the company has sustained damages and "significant reputational harm" resulting from the review.
The filing also stated that the company believes Watson will continue posting damaging, false reviews about the company until a court stops her.
Thomas Nader, an attorney representing Starr, told NBC4 that the company is not suing over a bad review but rather because Watson, he claims, was never a Starr customer.
“The only comment Starr wishes to make is that this is not a case of a business suing a client for a bad review,” Nader said. “The defendant in this matter is not and has never been a customer of Starr.”
According to Nader, Watson was involved in a relationship with someone at the company but the relationship eventually soured. He told Law Commentary that the woman's allegedly false review was a "personal vendetta" that came after the break-up.
The company is seeking actual and compensatory damages, punitive damages exceeding $25,000, attorney fees, and the cost of litigation, according to the lawsuit. It also wants to secure a court order that would bar the woman from publishing false statements about the company.
The Independent has asked Starr Manufacturing Inc for comment. Efforts to reach Julie Watson in Columbus were unsuccessful.
