Accountant Sues Craigslist Over Negative Post About His Services

from the yeah,-that'll-work dept

And here's a lawsuit that's going nowhere fast. Alex points us to the news of a NY accountant, Leo Kehoe, who is suing Craigslist for $1 million because someone insulted him on the site. He is also suing the anonymous user, who called him a "fraudulent scumbag" who "will botch up your tax returns and forget to submit them." However, it sounds like he got some very bad advice from his lawyer, who he claims told him: "Craigslist should have known the posting was false and untrue and would subject Kehoe to 'ridicule, disgrace and prejudice.'" It sounds like his lawyer is unfamiliar with Section 230 and the long list of caselaw that makes Craigslist not liable for the content created by users on the website. The individual person who wrote the post may have some liability (and even that may be a stretch), but Craigslist should be able to get out of this case pretty quickly. At some point, though, you would think that courts should start sanctioning lawyers who file lawsuits that clearly will be dismissed under Section 230. In the meantime, though, it would seem that a lot more people are now aware that someone out there was quite upset with the service he or she got from Mr. Kehoe than if he'd just let the Craigslist post go away. Also, isn't filing a questionable lawsuit even more likely to result in ridicule, disgrace or prejudice?
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Filed Under: accountant, craigslist, leo kehoe, libel, section 230
Companies: craigslist


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  1. icon
    Planespotter (profile), 17 Mar 2010 @ 3:15pm

    lmao...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Charles Denman, 17 Mar 2010 @ 3:18pm

    Craig's List

    Craig's List was very recently sued in a federal nationwide class action by a vet in Long Beach, CA (Cats & Dogs Animal Hospital and Dr. Greg Perrault). Sales people reportedly offered to remove derogatory comments if the vet would pay or subscribe to Craig's List. He refused. More negative reviews appeared, followed by more pressure sales pitches. The complaint states this was a common practice that bordered on extortion. The complaint was filed by two law firms, one in Miami and San Francisco.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    rabbit, 17 Mar 2010 @ 3:21pm

    You made a funny!

    Ridicule, disgrace or prejudice from who? Other lawyers? Judges (aka lawyers)? Politicians (aka lawyers)? They are all patting each other on the back all the way to the bank.

    I swear, there's a bar association bet out there on who can tie up the legal system the most with these idiotic lawsuits...and probably a shot of sambuca riding on it.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. icon
    :Lobo Santo (profile), 17 Mar 2010 @ 3:23pm

    Re: Craig's List

    Links or it didn't happen...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. icon
    Murdock (profile), 17 Mar 2010 @ 3:38pm

    Re: Craig's List

    Nope, pretty sure that was Yelp. Craig's List doesn't sell reviews as far as I'm aware

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. icon
    Murdock (profile), 17 Mar 2010 @ 3:40pm

    Re: Craig's List

    Just verified, yep it was Yelp, not CL, not even close.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    DS, 17 Mar 2010 @ 3:44pm

    Re: Craig's List

    Way to be confused about life. This was yelp.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. icon
    Ima Fish (profile), 17 Mar 2010 @ 4:02pm

    So let me get this straight, Leo Kehoe is a fraudulent scumbag who will botch up your tax returns and forget to submit them? Or not.

    If Leo Kehoe is a fraudulent scumbag who will botch up your tax returns and forget to submit them, you probably should not use him as an accountant, in my humble and subjective opinion.

    In fact if Leo Kehoe is a fraudulent scumbag who will botch up your tax returns and forget to submit them he should probably lose his license, in my humble and subjective opinion.

    In conclusion, if Leo Kehoe is a fraudulent scumbag who will botch up your tax returns and forget to submit them, he's probably also douche, a retard, and gets his rocks off killing puppies, in my humble and subjective opinion.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. icon
    Reason2Bitch (profile), 17 Mar 2010 @ 4:07pm

    Makes sense

    Probably the accountant did taxes for the lawyer and the lawyer did not had the money to pay him. So the accountant is making him fight embarrassing lawsuits.

    BTW, do you know why this lawyer has no money? Probably because the same accountant manages his finance.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Yakko Warner, 17 Mar 2010 @ 4:16pm

    Re:

    Leo Kehoe hasn't denied raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl in 1980, either.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. icon
    Ima Fish (profile), 17 Mar 2010 @ 4:30pm

    Re: Re:

    What?! So Leo Kehoe is a fraudulent scumbag who will botch up your tax returns and forget to submit them, according to someone's allegation, and he has not denied raping and murdering a 12 year old girl in the 80s?!

    In my humble and utterly sarcastic, uninformed, and subjective opinion, the guy is most likely a sociopath.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    Richard Corsale, 17 Mar 2010 @ 5:05pm

    Re: Craig's List

    I think you're thinking of Yelp. I called this out in on techcrunch last year :)

    Craigslist is one of the good guys. They're more concerned about their users and freedom of speech, than the billions of dollars they have been offered many, many times.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. icon
    Overcast (profile), 17 Mar 2010 @ 5:46pm

    Re: Makes sense

    Probably the accountant did taxes for the lawyer and the lawyer did not had the money to pay him. So the accountant is making him fight embarrassing lawsuits.

    BTW, do you know why this lawyer has no money? Probably because the same accountant manages his finance.


    heh, you may well be right..

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Mar 2010 @ 6:12pm

    Re: Re: Craig's List

    ...wanker.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  15. icon
    DanVan (profile), 17 Mar 2010 @ 8:14pm

    In a way, I feel a bit bad for some who get bad reviews on sites. You can tell some of the reviews are fake and they really can effect someones business as people may look at it for whether to use them or not

    link to this | view in thread ]

  16. icon
    Bullpine (profile), 18 Mar 2010 @ 6:02am

    Defamation

    Anonymous reviews should not be permitted and Craigslist should pay restitution for publishing this cowards defaming remarks. IMA FISH is a ret-tard and should consider themselves defamed by their own posts.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  17. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Mar 2010 @ 6:35am

    My review

    Leo Kehoe can't take it like a man. Avoid.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  18. identicon
    Kiley, 18 Mar 2010 @ 1:55pm

    Family-friendly online selling

    Negatives Craigslist stories seem to pop up on the hour. Check out AmericanListed (www.Americanlisted.com). It's a free, hyper-local, family- friendly, online classified site, where you can sell to neighbors in your community. Postings remain on the site for three months; and associates review all posts before publishing them to filter out inappropriate content. It's a great alternative to other sites that have “adult” content and attract scammers.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  19. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Mar 2010 @ 4:01pm

    since cl polices and reviews posts they may have some responsibility.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  20. identicon
    Azrael, 19 Mar 2010 @ 1:58am

    Re: Defamation

    "Anonymous reviews should not be permitted "
    And this is why you are posting anonymously?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  21. identicon
    Reuben, 21 Dec 2011 @ 10:27pm

    DELIBERTE deletion of my postings

    i want to hire an attorney to sue these guys for deliberate deletion of my ads that NEVER violated any rule but got deleted by a staff for NO REASON ever given.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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