An Ohio manufacturer with only 13 Google reviews in seven years is suing a woman for more than $25,000 over one of them, and her court filing says the real story is a breakup with a part owner of the company.
Starr Manufacturing, which makes oil and gas production equipment in Vienna, Ohio, sued Columbus resident Julie Watson in Trumbull County in August. The target is the one-star review she posted in March. On Oct. 15, Watson asked the court to throw the case out.
What the Company Says
Watson’s review alleged “a host of quality control issues,” blamed “shoddy subs” and said she could provide names of people who would back her up, Inc. reported. Starr calls it false and defamatory and is asking for a jury trial, punitive damages, attorney fees and an order to stop her from repeating the claims.
The company’s attorney, Thomas Nader, said she never bought anything from Starr. “The defendant is not a customer of Starr Manufacturing and has never been a customer of Starr Manufacturing,” he told People. “This was the result of a personal relationship between the defendant and an employee of Starr Manufacturing. This is a personal vendetta.”
What She Says
Watson’s Oct. 15 filing tells a different story, Business Insurance reported. It says her ex-boyfriend of nearly a decade is a part owner of Starr, describes friction with his parents, including a failed attempt to evict her from the apartment the couple shared, and says she overheard conversations about product quality during the relationship. She says she believed what she wrote was true.
She is asking for dismissal under Ohio’s anti-SLAPP law, which is designed to quickly end lawsuits that target someone for speaking out, and she wants Starr to pay her legal fees. The court has not ruled.
Here is the part every owner should notice. A company with 13 Google reviews in seven years just put one of them in front of a national audience. Before August, it was one star among a handful. Now it’s in Inc., People and on local TV.
Lawyers aren’t sure anyone wins. A review is only defamatory if it states or clearly implies a false fact that can be checked, attorney Judith Swartz told Inc., calling the case a “high-cost, high-uncertainty path for everyone involved.”
Before Your Next Meeting
Every business gets a review it thinks is unfair. Here is what this one forces you to think about. What would you do?
- A one-star review says things you believe are false. Do you reply, report it or sue? Starr chose to sue, and Watson says she believed what she wrote. Whichever side is right, far more people have now read that review than ever would have. Before you pick, write down what each option would cost you in time, money and attention.
- Someone reviews your business who was never a customer. Could you prove it? Starr says Watson “was not a customer, supplier, or vendor,” and Watson says her review came from what she heard during the relationship. Check what your records would actually show, from orders and invoices to bookings and emails, before you say anything in public.
- The review comes from someone in your personal life. Who handles it? Each side tells a different story here, and the court hasn’t ruled. Decide now that anyone personally involved stays out of the response, and let someone with no stake in it write the reply.
