What is Yelp V Hadeed carpet cleaning?
YELP, INC. v. HADEED CARPET CLEANING, INC. Record No. 140242. Yelp, Inc. (“Yelp”), appeals from the judgment of the Court of Appeals affirming the order of the Circuit Court of the City of Alexandria holding Yelp in civil contempt for failing to comply with a non-party subpoena duces tecum served upon it by Hadeed Carpet Cleaning, Inc. (“Hadeed”).
What happened to Hadeed carpet cleaning?
On July 2, 2012, Hadeed Carpet Cleaning, Inc., a Virginia rug cleaning company, filed a complaint for defamation and conspiracy to defame against seven anonymous Yelp reviewers in the Circuit Court for the City of Alexandria. Hadeed claimed these users'... read full description
What was Yelp's response to the Hadeed V Yelp case?
On October 22, 2012, Yelp filed a memo in support of its objections to the subpoena and opposing Hadeed's motion to compel discovery. Yelp reiterated that the First Amendment "provides special protections for anonymity on the Internet," and argued that the court should apply the Dendrite test.
What happened to yelp in the dendrite case?
Without citing Dendrite or Cahill, the court therefore ordered Yelp to produce information identifying the anonymous speakers. Yelp refused to enforce the subpoena and, on January 9, 2013, the court held Yelp in contempt and imposed a $500 fine and $1000 in attorney fees.
Legal Claims
On July 2, 2012, Hadeed Carpet Cleaning, Inc., a Virginia rug cleaning company, filed a complaint for defamation and conspiracy to defame against seven anonymous Yelp reviewers in the Circuit Court for the City of Alexandria. Hadeed claimed these users'... read full description
Legal Counsel
On July 2, 2012, Hadeed Carpet Cleaning, Inc., a Virginia rug cleaning company, filed a complaint for defamation and conspiracy to defame against seven anonymous Yelp reviewers in the Circuit Court for the City of Alexandria.
Why did Yelp object to the subpoena?
Yelp objected to the subpoena on First Amendment grounds, protecting the free speech right to speak anonymously, and on the grounds that Virginia had no jurisdiction over their headquarters and documents in California.
Is Yelp in contempt of court?
The Virginia Supreme court has ruled that Yelp is no longer in contempt of court for protecting the identities of anonymous online reviewers who left critical comments about a Virginia-based carpet company.
Does Hadeed need to show evidence to meet the First Amendment?
“If Hadeed turns to California courts to learn the identities of its critics, those courts will require it to show evidence to meet the well-accepted First Amendment test for identifying anonymous speakers, ” said Levy.