Woman sued over 'malicious' tweet

Horizon showed true colors when Mr. Michale stated "...we're a sue first...organization." IMHO – @bonnen also believes Horizon's claim is "without merit". I believe there is NOT a housing project in AMERICA that exists without mold – which makes @bonnen's tweet true. Even if samples / testing shows < .001% of spores it still means mold exists. Horizon would better position themselves in stating facts that exist for all homeowners/renters instead of going straight to litigation. I think I will steer clear of Horizon – not because of mold which is everywhere – but because the attitude is sue first. Who wants a "sue first" landlord anyway? Mr. Michael should have chosen better words – his were a poor representation of Horizon. Perhaps Horizon should sue him for his gaffe? LOL.

I'd agree that his statement "we're a sue first.." will have a much greater impact on the image of his company than her complaint about moldy apartments.

This is a great example of what happens when stupid people are put in charge of.. well, anything.

First – lol at julia Nunn – I think you don't get it... Why take the time to comment on a news article with your attitude about social media??

And also BIG lol at Horizon. Now instead of 20 people who read a joke about Horizon, we all get to read about their attitude towards customers on CNN... this is called Karma.

At first I felt that she should not be sued based on her comments, however when I reached the section stating she was in litigation against her apartment complex management, I changed my mind. Being that she was suing her apartment complex, she should have been cautious regarding any comments made toward the matter – public or private.

I'm afraid that these types of stories are going to occur more and more as people display their private lives on the net.

Twitter is no different than a casual conversation. If you're in a park and comment on something you noticed, you should not be sued just because someone else happened to be listening in. This is a freedom of speech issue, and no company should be able to use a twisted, outdated law to muzzle their critics or scare others into keeping quiet. This is clearly a harassment suit since their case is completely without merit (Libel cases are almost impossible to win because the burden of proof is on the accuser who must prove that financial loss has been incurred because of the statement and that the person made statements that they KNEW were false) Any lawyer knows this so the only logical purpose for their suit is to try to scare the woman or muzzle her and to counter her own suit against them.

I believe everyone has a right to their opinions on what they want to say within the Internet or word of mouth! Whether it's publicly stated or behind closes doors, freedom of speech shouldn't be held within a lawsuit. "It's ridiculous!"

It seems to me, everyone is out for money and taking everything so serious in life. If each person would lighten up, this world would be a better place. ~Charliann from Cape Coral, Florida

@Tim what is it that Carlos Mencia said? "Sticks and Stones will break my bones but words will forever harm my inner child."

This is ridiculous! haha Twitter absolutely SHOULD NOT be treated as a legitimate form of publishing. It's random thoughts...like this comment thing. This is the kinda crap I'm throwing out as I complete my world domination conquest. 😀

A M Henry, I believe Carlos Mencia's quote was, "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will forever harm my psyche."

The correct sequence of events (according to the article) is that she tweeted in May and then she countersued in June, so she was not in litigation at the time of the original tweet.

It's ridiculous that what appeared to be an off the cuff remark was treated with such malice on the part of Horizon. This would have been a great opportunity for them to shine in customer service or to at least contact their tenant to diffuse her comments but they took the low road. Shame on you Horizon!

Andy, just because you believe that every housing project in America has some instance of mold growth doesn't necessarily make your statement correct. Be careful.

I think email is private just like the postal service. It is a private letter from one person to other persons that they know.
Tweets, Facebook and other public forums are out there for all to see. Sure they are a persons opinions or ideas, but use your head. Someone that doesn't agree with you is gonna see it. And if you defame or put someone in a mental funk, they can come at you. It is public. THINK!
Here is a good subject for those kneejerk legislations our government loves to work on.

if it becomes a common practice that private comments – unintentionally published, by error, innocence or simply by mistake are then turned into a public matter by certain parties, then social networks may quickly turn into very poisonous anti-social instruments.

So your average Joe-Schmoe's remark is being taken as defamation? So anything posted in a blog, tweet, or anything that can be viewed publicly is treated as if you're posting a big billboard on the side of the road?!

Well there goes freedom of speech and opinions on the internet. Honestly, they might as well sue if somebody was in a conversation with their friends and somebody who works for the company just happened to overhear a bad comment towards that company.

I think that the legal systems needs to set up more measures to protect the people from crap like this 'cause obviously some laws are in need of a revamp.

"Sue first and ask questions later kind of organization?" I'll be sure to stay clear of Horizon for THAT remark...

How an organization is perceived is "subjective" to the individual. If we are not free to express our true "beliefs" under the First Amendment, fearing unreasonable lawsuits from large corporations, what is the point of the Bill of Rights? Horizon should use this event as a training tool to reinforce the importance of good "Customer Satisfaction."

If only Jeffrey Michael had posted his "sue first" comment on HIS twitter page...

The thing that I find most interesting in this entire ordeal is how this one tweet is labelled as libel. Since the account was set to private, an audience has the ability to view the tweet, had the account been set to private would it have thus been labeled as slander instead? Plus if it was private than Horizon's never would have come across the statement. Does setting an account to private enable you to freedom of speech? Because clearly Bonnen was expressing an opinion.

What a dumb move to sue over a tweet.

I've never heard of Horizon group before, but now I hold a negative view of the company as money hungry in that (1) they over-reacted to a tweet and are suing for $50,000 (how did they even come up with that figure?) (2) his "tongue-in-cheek" comment makes me view him and his company as the kind that are willing to take advantage of any situation in order to make a buck. If these two assumptions are true then I wouldn't doubt that there was mold in the apartment, not paying to properly take care of leak is a great way to cut cost!

The company that filed the lawsuit against this lady will never see a dime. I have problems with two companies and created web sites using that company name so it looked like their website. There are rulings all over the US that say you can put any thing that is true on a site as long as you do not have any paying ads on it or make any money from the site the courts have rules it cyber gripping.

Here is one ruling Note: U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the use of this type of gripe site as free speech in accordance with the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act ("ACPA"), 15 U.S.C. S 1125(d).

Do a Google search on "cyber gripe" you will find many state rulings that say it's just like you telling a friend but it's on line.

I have created two websites over the years against two companies that screwed me when what I bought was not what I paid for. Both companies refunded my money and I sold them the sites back that I make in their names.

Companies today do not protect themselves from anyone doing this. The companies just take there name.com and that's it. when for $20 or less a year they could protect themselves.

Example I had a problem with Reno Harley Davidson their site is Renoharley.com I put up a site called renoharleystore.com and had it listed to come up when ever you typed in reno harley in a search my site would come up telling the world about their bad service and how they screwed up my bike.

So this lady needs to look around it's just called cyber gripping and she is protected by law if she just told the truth about something that happened to her.

Wow, a sue first organization eh? THATS the kind of people I want to deal with.../sarcasm. But seriously, sueing over a tweet? That's a losing proposition for them, the proper thing to do would have to ignored it completely, or contact her directly like a responsible organization.

One Question:
Where is the legislation to protect #1 on the Bill of Rights!? A fat lot of good it is to have a law if its not upheld

And

If you ask me Horizon defamed themsleves more than Bonnen with her 20 followers and an offhand comment. Horizon looks like they may be doing more damage to themselves than she could've ever single-handedly accomplished. Congrats Horizon on making yourselves look like complete d-bags. You've now joined the well publicized ranks of corporate swine.

Twitter should use some of its millions to help defend this lady and help set a precedent that twittering is not "publishing."

But this is Chicago and it's horrifically corrupt. It may have to go to a higher court eventually.

And by the way, any of you saying anything negative about the slumlord Horizon here can be sued under their logic. This forum is "publishing", is it not?

OR, she made her comments private, but Twitter screwed up and reset them to public. Happens all the time on my Facebook account... maybe Horizon can go after Twitter.. deeper pockets to try to pick for a litigation-based company.

Horizon Reality _really_ seems to be admitting that they engage in harassing counter-suits against customers they have a dispute with.

The legal basis is ice-thin, they didn't bother to contact her first, and they ADMIT that the entire thing resulted from doing a background check on someone because she was alleging breach-of-contract.

Would YOU do business with a realtor knowing that if there was an issue with them in the future, this was how they'd treat you?

i hope this runs its course on the people's court. that would be superb. they could even get those smart yet fictional folks from csi: miami to come and check to make sure there is actually mold in that place. either way i think all involved should probably see some heavy jail time...

I would love to see this case in court, here is how the conversation would go:

Mr. Michael, were you really being "tongue-in-cheek" with your comment? If so, dont you think @abonnen was also being "tongue-in-cheek" with her comment? If not, then you really do operate a "sue first, ask questions later" organization. Case dismissed!

In our neighborhood, there is a 30 foot high pile of dirt that was created about 3+ years ago by a developer hauling in dirt. Why? Unknown. I was sued for $31,050,000 (really) for blogging that the pile of dirt "besmirched" the landscape. Strong words, right? At the time 70 people read our blog. Five days after the suit was served, nearly 500 people read the blog. I also created a parody of the famous Hollywood sign, and put it on a photo of the dirt pile.

Eventually, the guy lost – after appealing twice to the Virginia Supreme Court. For details on the case, go to the Citizens Media Law Project site (citmedialaw.org) and search Woody v. Carter.

Good luck, @abonnen.

How about this. We all Tweet about how Horizon has over reacted about this whole deal. They can't possibly sue all of us right?

I love how they have created more negative press then the Tweet itself ever could. The best part is that I'm sure they don't even realize they have. They probably still think they are in the right.

tweeting isn't journalism. enough said.

My dear Jeffrey, the mistake of suing and then making that stupid comment will cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars (yes, legal fees ARE expensive my friend). Plus the corporate reputation damage you have caused to Horizon - probably what will hurt you the most. Let's say you win the case against @abonnen, $50k won't do much to get you out of the hole. I think you are a complete AH. Focu on getting mold removed instead of spending time on Twitter.

Well the "sue first" comment hammered the nail into their coffin I believe. Pretty sure I will never be doing busisness with these people.

Ok, I hope and pray that this company Horizon NEVER EVER EVER gets another shred of business. My hope is that someone would stand outside their company offices and picket them with signs saying they are abusing the legal system by filing frivolous lawsuits in an effort to make a buck. SHUT THEM DOWN...stop doing business with them and then pass laws against filing stupid lawsuits that clog up the courts!

Sue first, ask questions later.

Wow, that sure sets a positive outlook for everyone who might have dealt with this company. I'm sure this lawsuit and the true but dumb comments of Horizon owner Jeffrey will cause more than $50,000 in damages. In fact, I hope this company goes bankrupt!!!

Horizon Realty – Business must be bad for you to be suing a commoner. And I don't your business is sinking because of @abonner's 20 followers. Its pretty pathetic to try to bully money out of people to feed your starving greed. Karma will SURELY get you on this one.

Love It has inspired me to engage in a twit-protest against these swine. Wait til' everyone on twitter hears how the are suing a fellow twitterer for her an offhand comment. I bet they'll have a lot more problems with this factual information than they ever would've got with her alleged "defamation". Now if you'll excuse me I've got flames to fan.

Sued because of a tweet what a joke!
We live in a free speech world!
Europe America...

That someone makes a tweet to someone else over molding [company horizons group] lol..It s crisestime we have the creditcrises.How far will companies go till they over rule everything.

The computer is a free speech techology machine.
I see twitter as a private space. with companies not to be allowed to be on it] Only companies that be on it for artists and festivals and sports should be allowed.

That a CEO wants to see 50 000$ hardcash is just insane.This company can better say nothing.

That this person has left twitter was a good choice.Because that company cant sue this person anymore.

I hope this problem ends

Oh my, this is really ridiculous! You can tell the people over at Horizon are some real geniuses. "Oh, that tweet is defamitory, because 20 people are reading it. So lets start a lawsuit so Hundreds of thousands of people can read about it on cnn.com" Well I will definitly steer clear of these people. If they are willing to stoop that low over a tweet claiming their business was hurt then I'm inclined to believe there really was a mole problem. They sound like the kind of people who would let one fester. Unbelievable!

Of course they don't have a leg to stand on. If they did, Microsoft would have had a field day years ago suing half the planets population for defamatory statements written in blogs, articles, tweets, bathroom stalls, you name it. For crying out loud, I'd be bankrupt a thousands times over for some of the post I've written about various companies. Most companies know that it is much more cost effective to just take care of a disgruntled customer rather than sue them.

Also to some of the statements about watching what you say on public forums. I say bollocks to that! Free speech is free speech wether you write it or say it. I'm not willing to budge an inch on that because the second we start tolerating these bully tactics then all is lost. The internet has saved me thousands of dollars simply through reading reviews on products and businesses. Ask yourself this; what happens when people become to scared to share their experiences with certain products and companies for fear they'll get sued?

Every piss poor customer service experience is automatically kept between the customer and the company and never see's the light of day. They continue to get rewarded with new customers to abuse and no one is the wiser because if you tell you get sued. I certainly don't want to live in a world like that. So to answer the question no twitter isn't journalism, and even if it was, so what, its why we have freedom of speech.

Its funny really, Horizon brought hundreds, if not thousands, of times more bad publicity to themselves by bringing this to a lawsuit.

20 direct followers reading a message vs. the potential millions who may read a news site?

The lesson to this story is to boycott Horizon. Where do I send my $$ to help Amanda Bonnen.

Leaky roof = Mold.
Twitter = Public
Public is governed by Freedom of Speech and of Press.
Defamation = Lying.
Opinions aren't lies.
There WAS a leak.
Leaky roof = Mold.
She was not lying.
Horizon Realty were irresponsible.
They wasted her time and damaged HER image now by making this public.
They DID defame HER.
She could sue them for damages.
I would settle for a free house of my choosing.
The End.

I never would have heard of Horizon if not for the news article where they declared their stupidity to the world. Mr. Michael did insurmountable damage to his organization’s public image. Should I ever encounter this company, I will run far far away and have no business dealings with them and their “sue first, ask questions later” mentality. Horizon reminds me of my HOA, NN Jaeschke here in San Diego. NNJ is an unbelievably inept organization, completely mismanaging many things.

This is stupid, she was saying something to her friend, its getting rediculous that people can't even say something on the internet without getting in trouble for something, let alone in person. If she would have said it over the phone to her friend it would have been no different except the fact that the company wouldn't have found out about it. So this lawsuit is basically implying that you can't bash anyone or anything, whether or not if you are trying to make a joke, tell someone a story or give someone a negative review. The next person to be sewed will be the movie reviewers for giving a movie a bad review lol!

Horizon realty has mold in all their apartments.. They are aware of it and they love it!! Horizon also kicks puppies. And Horizon faked the moon landing!!

whoops.. Horizon, please don't sue me! Ask questions 1st!!

"We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization" is 11 words, 52 characters (no spaces), and 62 characters (with spaces).

Good job Horizon owner Jeffrey Michael in less than 140 characters you single-handedly financially damaged your company more than any occupant of your facilities ever could. You should get a lawyer to protect yourself from yourself. I tip my hat to you gov'na!

I do have a twitter, but stopped using it. Basicaly it's facebook without the facebook.

Anyway on topic, I despise it when any entity throws such frivolous lawsuits at innocent people.

I hope this media coverage runs that company to the ground.

Horizon sure tanked their reputation with this silly lawsuit. It's a 127 word message! What on earth would they do if Blogger decided to write about them. Which will happen I hope. What a bunch of jerks.

Freedom of speech...NOT IN AMERICA!!!

It sounds like Jeffrey Michael's "tongue in cheek" comment about suing first and asking questions later may be more to the point than anything else. They may be suing because they really are a heavy handed organization, and the person that posted the tweet about mold may just be getting pummeled because they use their money to abuse the people that make the mistake or doing business with them.

I'm feeling like the Amanda Bonnen is probably the real victim here, and I hope the jury (if it comes to that) sides with her and against what appears to be a predatory organization.

There are a lot of company's monitoring Twitter. A company name with #fail will get their attention and get you direct service, not a lawsuit. Stupid people, well said.

Does "having a conversation" mean no one is responsible for telling a lie anymore?

Verbal abuse is no different nor less harmful then physical abuse. Apply the same penalties (Fines, Suits, Terms, Punishment) to any written abuse as you would a person jumping from an alley and clubbing a child to death. And then let's see how freely some of these criminals in the blogosphere attack their victims.

1) Keep your communications private – as it should be. Why do you need to "Tweet" any personal communications???
2) As for Horizon, they displayed the typical ridiculous American solution to everything: lawsuit.
3) Good for you standing up to them with your counter-suit. Sad to think that's the only way Americans can straighten out their problems but it probably is.

I do not Tweet.. but have seen it. I say YEAH! about time some internet electronic bullies are put to task publicly! all this internet use people believe is so anonymous they have become public nuisances and bullies. and its getting out of control~ I note this is a civil suit because our law makers have not protected us from various internet use abuses..
And law enforcement has their hands tyed as to not being able to arrest perpetrators who abuse the net! Good for them! Id like to be on that jury!

This company has definitely done more damage to their organization with this lawsuit than the Twitter post ever could have. I would never have assumed that Twitter post was factual, it sounds like a silly joke between friends that may or may not have been true. I certainly wouldn't have judged the company based on that post. Who wants to do business with a company that would bother to sue someone over such a benign comment? “We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization.” <-Sounds like a fun place, thanks for the warning.

Horizon- I got an PR Idea.........? Drop the lawsuit.... DUH!!

julia Nunn July 29th, 2009 11:20 am ET
And speaking of stupid people this whole compulsive reacting and reporting on every tiny little thing which occurs in your daily life (twittering, cell phoning and (yes I know this is) blogging has GOT to go by the wayside.

The Troll has spoken: you should heed your own advice.

Actually this is about fear tactics, and even if this case goes nowhere it puts the fear into people. True capitalism as it is, like it or not its here to stay.

She does not have the money to fight, for the company the PR is nothing, seen things like this brings a tear to my eye of how much fun it is to rule over people, can't wait to finish my Law school and get into the fun, after all its not like people will fight back, most americans think they are middle class but live from paycheck to paycheck, life will be good.

Horizon owner Jeffrey Michael Sucks!

Have your lawyer find my lawyer ******!

Mr. Michael has just ruined his company's reputation more than any mold can ever ruin a house. He has defamed its company's name more than any tweet can ever attempt to do.

Just so everyone knows, there is mold EVERYWHERE in nature. Inside, outside...it just is. if you test for it, you will find it. As to twitter....who cares...face it...we are not THAT important, people....no one REALLY needs to know what stupid thing you are doing or thinking right now

So if I write on the net that McDonalds made me fat, McDonalds is going to sue me? People who blog and tweet, set up MySpace pages or comment on their Facebook – they aren't publicists. They're people expressing themselves through an online medium just as they would in person.

Freedom of speech., freedom of expression. Neither the government nor corporate America have any right to punish us for speaking our minds.

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