Taco Bell is currently being sued for false advertising. A California woman (not seeking cash damages?!) alleges that Taco Bell should not be able to claim they are serving "seasoned beef" when their meat is only 35% percent beef. Methinks she has a good point.
With that in mind, an old post I wrote:
Ohio Woman Appeals Slander Suit
--From Reuters
DAYTON, OH - An Ohio woman is appealing the decision of the Ohio State Court in their Friday ruling that she slandered the a prominent national grocery chain. Diana Frederick, 38, said to several friends, family members, and associates that Alberson's brand cheddar cheese "tastes like rat poison." The grocer took offense to the statement, alleging it cost the store millions in sales.
Plaintiff attorney Brian Winters remarked, "because our primary source of marketing for Albertson's brand products is word of mouth, we view this statement as particularly damaging to the store's success."
The case represented the first time that free speech rights have been challenged by a commercial entity. Albertson's attorneys argued that, under the law, a corporation is endowed with the same rights as an individual. Thus, slander against a corporation should be governed by the same laws as slander of an individual. The attorneys argued that if they could demonstrate causal harms that resulted from Mrs. Frederick's anti-factual words, they should win the suit.
The jury deliberated for only 90 minutes before returning a decision in favor of Albertson's in the amount of $5.2 million. Juror Mike D. explained, "the only thing more convincing than the attorney's suits were their arguments."
Mrs. Frederick plans to appeal the case to the Ohio State Supreme Court.
"We feel confident that the appeals judges will overturn this decision. I'm just a woman who stated my opinion, and there's nothing wrong with that," said Frederick to media members after the trial.
However, Mr. Winters felt confident in his client's chances in an appeal. "Sure, we have freedom of speech, but that doesn't mean you can just say anything you want."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Lol @ "35% beef"...what the heck is the other 65%? lol...
But that is strange. If she is giving an opinion and supplimenting that opinion with a vivid description as to how it tastes to her, how is that slander? Isn't slander when you say something as a matter of fact to hurt someone's character only to conclude that that statement is false?
Post a Comment