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Business Hypocrites and their Boatloads of Lawsuits

By Joe Consumer

The social media world was keyed up yesterday about a front page New York Times story about a guy who was is being sued by a company about which he had complained on Facebook:

After a towing company hauled Justin Kurtz?s car from his apartment complex parking lot, despite his permit to park there, Mr. Kurtz, 21, a college student in Kalamazoo, Mich., went to the Internet for revenge.

Outraged at having to pay $118 to get his car back, Mr. Kurtz created a Facebook page called ?Kalamazoo Residents against T&J Towing.? Within two days, 800 people had joined the group, some posting comments about their own maddening experiences with the company.

T&J filed a defamation suit against Mr. Kurtz, claiming the site was hurting business and seeking $750,000 in damages.

We thought about doing a quick piece on this yesterday but then we thought, ?where have we heard about this kind of thing before??  Oh yeah.  It?s your basic ?hypocrisy? tale, and we love those!

Businesses typically think that the courts should be theirs alone, reserved exclusively for their SLAPP (?strategic lawsuit against public participation?) lawsuits like this one, or their patent, trademark, breach of contract and damaged property actions, to make sure they can recover money that they feel they?re owed.  That?s why ?tort reform? laws only limit consumers? ability to recover damages.  They leave companies with unfettered access to the courts to recover commercial losses.  In fact, companies bring thousands of such suits each year, sometimes in an effort simply to browbeat small businesses or individuals into submission ? like this one.  Litigation has become a time-honored way for businesses to do business.

 But first, what?s a SLAPP suit?  The Times described it well: ?The label has traditionally referred to meritless defamation suits filed by businesses or government officials against citizens who speak out against them. The plaintiffs are not necessarily expecting to succeed ? most do not ? but rather to intimidate critics who are inclined to back down when faced with the prospect of a long, expensive court battle.?

 We took a look at the news today and found a few other businesses lawsuits of interest:

For example, we are thrilled to report that Wright Medical Group Inc and Howmedica Osteonics Corp., a subsidiary of Stryker Corp., have resolved their copyright infringement lawsuit!   ?The lawsuit, which was filed in 2000, alleged that Wright Medical?s Advance knee implant product violated a patent held by Howmedica, which sought an order of infringement and unspecified damages.?  We thought this one was particularly ironic given that right now, medical device companies are completely immune for any liability for implanting defective devices into people.   How nice that their copyright complaints haven't been touched.

Then there?s the suit filed by producers of The Hurt Locker  against 5,000 ?Joe Doe? pirates who allegedly downloaded the film.  Lots of money involved here. ?The complaint notes that 'Defendants' infringements allow them and others unlawfully to obtain and distribute for free unauthorized copyrighted works that the  Plaintiff spends millions of dollars to create and/or distribute.? Apparently, the head of Voltage Pictures is really angry at these John Does, reportedly writing an email back to someone who complained about the impending lawsuit:  

I'm glad you're a moron who believes stealing is right. I hope your family and your kids end up in jail one day for stealing so maybe they can be taught the difference. Until then, keep being stupid, you're doing that very well.  And please do not download, rent, or pay for my movies, I actually like smart and more important HONEST people to watch my films.

Speaking of the entertainment business, maybe Carly Simon (who?s suing Starbucks) and Hulk Hogan (who?s suing Post Foods) will join those equally-angry people fighting for access to the courts for everyone ? not just businesses and celebs. 

And we wish everyone good luck in their various lawsuits!

Full post as published by ThePopTort on June 02, 2010 (boomark / email).