Former Employee Firebombing – 5-Step Plan To Handle Incendiary Online Reviews

Your organization spends significant capital crafting your corporate brand and reputation to appeal to consumers and potential employees alike. Now, imagine the first internet search result for your company coming back in bold capital letters:

"THE OFFICE IS FULL OF COCKROACHES AND RACIST PEOPLE"

The rise of comment/complaint-oriented websites (Yelp, ripoffreport), social media outlets (Facebook, Instagram), and job-seeking specific sites (Glassdoor, LinkedIn) has exposed employers to fake or slanderous online postings from former employees. While free speech is a beautiful thing, the Founding Fathers likely did not anticipate the ease at which a former employee can firebomb you with fake reviews across multiple web platforms, ruining your online reputation through a few simple keystrokes.

And these kinds of postings will get noticed by those considering a job at your company. According to a recent study from CareerArc, 91% of job candidates seek out online resources to review an employer's brand before applying for a job. The most visited sites are Facebook (47%), Glassdoor (41%), and LinkedIn (28%).

The general response from employers to such posts is "But that's defamation!" Unfortunately, while the number of online forums where former employees can anonymously comment on their employers has expanded, the legal landscape has been slow to respond to internet defamation or fake reviews. The majority of websites still permit anonymous users to leave comments and reviews without any review or vetting.

The Hurdle: The Communications Decency Act

Almost all content platforms have a policy that makes clear they will not play arbitrator in defamation disputes. And they feel comfortable defending legal challenges to this principle. Websites such as Glassdoor have tested, and stand behind, the legal argument that any claims against websites who host review platforms are barred under the Communications Decency Act (CDA).

The CDA provides that "no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." The statute also says that "no cause of action may be brought and no liability may be imposed under any State or local law that is inconsistent with this section."

Reviewers, however, and other creators of online content remain liable for publishing information if they are responsible, in whole or in part, for the creation or development of...

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