We wrote a post the other day...despite "The Rain" believing it was pointless and somehow a re-blog (it was neither,) it was quite widely read. The Post:
Social Media Goes To Mediation..You Be the Judge !
It talked about companies who had been taken to court...be it "Small Brains" (small claims) or a traditional court with c
onsumer complaints for a job not done properly. The company can...and apparently more frequently these days does...as a condition of settlement against them, state that there will be no mention in any social media of the judgment or damages awarded in the suit.
Last night was one of the regular occasions we meet with a largely lawyer member group in a social setting and we all feel free to ask for "free" advice/information in our respective professions. Carla Muss-Jacobs, Principal Broker/Owner raised the question in her comments on that post whether or not that short of legal stipulation was not a violation of first a
mendment rights. That peeked our curiousity and we decided to exercise our "Free" legal question option to find out if that was an infraction of the right to free speech.
Ah yes....it turns out...that it is not only legal...it is extremely common...and the larger the company that has received the complaint, the more ikely this kind of "gag order" is more likely to be a part of the settlement agreement.
Further....now here is a "no surprise" result...Lawyers are now finding a whole new area of practice by pursuing and suing people who violate this order and choose to air their opinions about the company's product or service that "did them wrong".
Soooo now you know "the rest of the story." Amen and Women.
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