Justin Kurtz, a student from Western Michigan University started a group about his problem with the T & J Towing Company, and is now being sued for $750,000 for defamation. The court order demands he “immediately cease nd desist any further libelous and slanderous written claims” about the company. The company has lost many business accounts due to the Facebook group, according to company President Joseph Bird.
According to Kalamazoo News, the WMU aviation student started the group after his Saturn SL2 was towed from a parking spot near campus. His car was legally parked and he had his parking sticker clearly marked, but when he went to get his car back, the front of the car was damaged and the sticker removed. On top of that, T&J charged him $118. He is asserting that T&J actually broke into the car and removed his sticker so they could tow him and then charge him$118.
This would seem a bit weird if others hadn’t joined the group and say they had found the exact same thing done by T&J parking, and this led to a lot of people posting on the group. T&J alleges Kurtz is part of a “crusade to post verbal and written claims … with allegations that are untrue and/or dishonest and without merit”, and that the company is losing business. The company has a Better Business Bureau rating of F in Western Michigan, and a report shows a pattern of “complaints in which consumers allege the company towed vehicles in error when either the vehicle had the required parking pass, or the vehicle was not parked in a designated no parking area.”
Check out the Facebook group here, and let us know what you think!
they can't sue, it's protected by the 1st amendment.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/02/15/1481980/jud...
Comment by heather — April 15, 2010 @ 12:49 pm
good link! I sent it to Justin via the FB page.
Comment by Anne Roberts Blair — April 16, 2010 @ 8:55 am
Fortunately, "what I said was true," is a valid defense for libel.
Comment by Sean Weigold Fergus — April 16, 2010 @ 3:47 pm
this is BS this young man going to school trying to make a living and this happening being sue is wrong ,hope the court throw this out of the courtroom
Comment by Marlene Killam — April 17, 2010 @ 7:20 am
Sure they can sue. 1st Amendment doesn't apply — it says the Government can't restrict freedom of speech. The towing firm is a private company. People get sued for defamation, libel and slander all the time.
Comment by Duncan — April 17, 2010 @ 2:30 pm
This business will soon learn about the power of the Internet. You can only get away with things for so long, but as soon as you yourself make a big deal out of it, you're done.
Comment by Andrew Bestic — April 18, 2010 @ 12:52 am
Does this towing company really think this is going to fix their reputation and bring back clientelle? This article is being read all over the country, surely this will only hurt their business more, whether or not it's true.
Comment by KimboTron — June 1, 2010 @ 2:20 pm