Business Disparagement Laws
In the commercial world, business owners will often threaten to sue opposing parties for business disparagement. Disparagement of business is defined as false and ill-natured statements intentionally made against a business in order to create financial harm. Business disparagement falls under privacy law.
In modern times, an common examples of disparagement of business is when a false review is created in order to damage a business’ financial success.
For a claim to be considered disparagement of business, specific elements must exist. Firstly, the disparagement must have to be published and public (not said privately). In addition: the published statements must be false, must have negatively impacted the reputation or finances of the business, and must have malicious intent. A plaintiff must prove that the disparaging statement did cause a loss of sales and/or customers.
Since the rise of social media, business disparagement has become more ambiguous because there is ample opportunity to make slanderous comments on a variety of platforms. The standards of disparagement laws still apply. False allegations can be argued and defended with the help of an experienced lawyer. With the help of a lawyer, defendants can argue that elements have not been proven the plaintiff.
