From deep in the “how to royally screw up your reputation via social media” files comes this gem.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported yesterday that Horizon Group Management LLC, an apartment leasing and management company, has filed a libel suit against former tenant Amanda Bonnen.
Apparently Ms. Bonnen sent out a Tweet on May 12 that read in part:
Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks it’s okay.
Horizon Realty Group didn’t like that, and has filed suit.
Here’s the real kicker in this whole thing
Jeffrey Michael, whose family has run Horizon for more than 25 years had this to say:
"The statements are obviously false, and it’s our intention to prove that."
He said that while she moved out recently, the company never had a conversation about the post and never asked her to take it down.
"We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization”
My emphasis in bold.
That bears repeating… Horizon Realty Group goes on the record in the mainstream media as a “We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of organization”.
Un-freaking believable!
They are seeking $50,000 in damages.
Well Horizon Realty Group, you just did far more damage to your reputation than Ms. Bonnen could have dreamed of.
CBS2 in Chicago reports that the suit contains language that because Bonnen’s Twitter account was set to public, “everyone following on Twitter can view the defamatory statement”.
Well yeah, if they happened to be viewing the public Twitter stream at the moment the Tweet was sent. Ever watched the public Twitter stream? Things fly by in nano-seconds, only to be lost in a sea of a bazillion hourly Tweets. In reality, the only people that had a real chance of seeing this Tweet would have been. Ms. Bonnen’s followers.
Podcasting News reports that Ms. Bonnen had all of 22 followers in her now inactive Twitter account.
So at best, 22 people saw the Tweet that Horizon Group Management claims, “greatly injured its reputation as a landlord in Chicago”.
And how many are seeing now that Horizon is a “sue first, ask questions later kind of organization”??? Hundreds of thousands, easily. (Could, literally, be millions. This is now a “trending topic” on Twitter.)
What we have here is an epic fail on the part of Horizon. By their own admission, they never had a conversation with the complainant, they never asked her to delete the Tweet. Apparently they did nothing to mitigate this problem other than file a libel suit that is now being discussed across the Internet.
Fifty grand?
You just cost yourself a LOT more than fifty thousand Horizon. If you think Amanda Bonnen hosed your reputation with a Tweet seen by a couple of dozen people at best, then you haven’t seen anything yet. Your “sue first ask questions later” mentality may soon be in business school case studies about how to completely and utterly blow it when it comes to new media /social media PR.
Just watch. The carnage is going to be ugly.
Update: One hour after posting this, the count on a Google blog search for “Amanda Bonnen” has gone from 74 to 112 results. A Google search on “We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization” has gone from 56 to 146 results. Posts, including this one, are already on page 1 of Google for search terms related to Horizon Realty Group, Horizon Group management, etc.
Update 2: And now the mainstream media heavyweights are weighing in… Wall St Journal here and here, USA Today.
Here is the actual Tweet that started this whole thing:
Here is the actual law suit filing (via Chicago Now).
Update 3: Horizon Realty has issued a press release in response to the, uhm, let’s say “overwhelming” response to their lawsuit. From Jeff Michael, of the now infamous “We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization” quote.
Others opine:
The Consumerist
Mashable
Chicago Tribune Blog
The Inquisitr
Chicago Now
A Google Blog Search for “Amanda Bonnen” yields 74 results. And counting…
A Google search of “We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization” yields 56 results. And counting…
Hat tip: @evo_terra
Photo Credit: Damien Basile on Flickr. Creative Commons License.
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{ 47 comments }
Sounds like they're going to need a really good consulting firm after this, too. My plan of action would be to:
1) take their check
2) smack them and forbid them from talking
3) apologize a lot
4) fire the moron who made the sue first statement
5) take a good look at the company practices
Incredible! I can't believe that a company would go on record as a “sue-first” kind of group! Would it be alright if I re-blogged this on my site?
Staggering display of how to F up social media PR!
You're more than welcome to post. All I ask for is proper attribution! (ie: a link)
You should give Horizon a call and offer your services! 773.529.7200
Woohoo! I'm an ambulance chaser!
If a company wants to spend their money suing past tenants over Tweets on Twitter, that seems completely fine with me. Would I spend my money the same way? No. But we live in a ridiculously litigious society, and while I agree her Twitter followers are small, it's obvious (as this entire media explosion proves) that any tweet, from anyone, regardless of the number of followers they have, can be turned into a very, very big deal.
I'm also curious as to whether Ms. Bonnen's claims about the Realty companies thoughts on mold are in fact correct, which, when you think about what she actually wrote, are going to be troubling for her to prove. I doubt this error in judgment will cost her $50,000, but it wouldn't surprise me if it does cost her something.
For all of us more visible in the social media landscape, this is another example that we can never be too careful about what we say in public.
Thanks for highlighting this case, Jay.
If Horizon Realty Group were my clients, I'd advise them to reach out to Ms. Bonnen, apologize for the mold and work with her to solve the problem.
I've seen many cases where opening a dialog with someone who vented over social media shifted the individual's brand perception from a negative to a positive.
As it stands, Horizon's made a public statement about the type of organization it is. I'm interested to see how this experience will affect organizational policy/culture, if at all.
HA ha ha ha ha ha
“And how many are seeing now that Horizon is a “sue first, ask questions later kind of organization”??? Hundreds of thousands, easily.”
try millions. it's now a top 10 trending topic. people all over the world now think of horizon realty as a company to avoid; solely because of their own actions; the original tweet drew no attention at all. congrats, horizon. i've let my chicago friends know. because people who run a “sue first and ask questions later” company deserve to be taken down a few pegs.
the decent and smart thing to have done would be to contact ms bonnen and help her with the mold problem. then she would have likely twittered about how great her management company is. which also would have only reached 22 people, but hey, no social reputation disaster. horizon has uneducated lawyers.
Steve – I agree it's perfectly within Horizon's right to sue. It's ridiculous, in my opinion, particularly since it's evident that they don't “get ” Twitter. Read the actual law suit filing (I just added it in an update at the bottom of the post). They seem to think someone with a following of 22 people is broadcasting to the world. Technically that may be true, but the reality is next to no one saw that Tweet. It seems to my non-lawyer mind to be a completely frivolous law suit.
And you're right, this is another great example of the “power” of social media.
Wouldn't it have been easier to have contacted her, thanked her for bringing it their attention, and fixing the “mold”?
Better yet, gone and taken photos of the “mold” and had it tested … if it turned to be bad, they could have
1) Fixed it.
2) Posted on their blog/site what the stuff really was
Maybe next time.
So now knowing that they are a “sue first ask questions later kind of company” who on earch wants to do business with them. Either as a tenant or as a property owner/client. I would never want to have any kind of business relationship with a firm.
Also by suing over a tweet they have pretty clearly showed a poor grasp of business and the internet which is just one more reason not to deal with them.
Someone needs to be fired.
Yup, I have already seen this on a number of other blogs and online publications today. It makes me question if the people at Horizon are unaware of the power of social media or if they just don't care that we're all talking about it. Or maybe they're also a “no PR is bad PR” kind of organization. It'll be interesting to see how this lawsuit plays out.
You're right; Horizon Realty has the right to sue.
However, in this economy, why would a Realty company want to sue over something like a Tweet read by possibly only 22 people when their Yelp has far more negative reviews toned in a reasonable (and believable) way?
Those Yelp reviews have probably been read by more than 22 people and spell more damage.
We can never be too careful about what we say in public, but we can also never be too careful in how we respond in public.
The fact of the matter is, they'd have a hell of a time suing all the people talking badly about them.
Jay – This is a good example of what NOT to do to protect your reputation. Horizon Realty is now #6 on the “trending topics” list, and none of the tweets are in their favor. That is a lot of seriously bad publicity.
I'm sorry, but a correction… she was only followed by 20 people at the time of the Tweet.
The tweet was also from May 12th, 2009 (over 2 months ago).
The complaint is online now:
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-bar-ten...
Sharlene – whether she was followed by 20 or 22 doesn't matter (in my opinion). Some report 20, some report 22. Regardless, it's not like she was followed by thousands, or tens of thousands.
And even if she was, so what? Horizon has brought more bad publicity on themselves than if it had been Oprah or Ashton Kutcher doing the tweeting…
Horizon Realty is a “trending topic” on Twitter now.
Want some fun? Read this:
http://tweetfeed.com/trends/horizon-realty
These guys REALLY stepped in it.
OK so let's take a tweet that is negative about us that maybe a few hundred people saw and make it headline news so several hundred thousand see it.
Im going to go out on a limb and say they are not a bunch of rocket scientist over there. #AnotherLawsuit?
“We're a Sue first” search now upwards of 250… 2:18pm AZ Time
I'm guessing this is one of those companies that doesn't give a crap about PR or public perception. They must think they'll get business no matter what they do or say. Amazing!
Sue first, think later, not smart, bye – bye.
Abosolutely retarded. I really hope that this company realizes that they just destroyed their reputation single handedly. Horizon Realty group forevermore is going to appear on the internet as the company that sued over a simple tweet. Wow. All I can say is, wow.
-Tyler
For those following this train wreck, I've posted Update #3, which has a link to Horizon Realty Group's press release response…
That company is a joke.
Still laughing at “We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization”. Foot…meet mouth.
It always amazes *and entertains* me how the internet allows stupid people to show millions just how dim they are ….
The power of Twitter is biting them in the boot-ay!
Quite a mess….should think carefully before speaking, especially when its so public…ugh. That statement is so obviously off to say the least…makes you wonder.
many thanks for this, cheers
Wow. I once heard Mark Willis – CEO of Keller Williams – state in response to a question over a competitor in a certain area's actions: “Never underestimate your competition's ability to make a bad decision.”
Enough Said.
Good lord. How do people in this day and age not understand the Streisand effect?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect
Why take this to court when you can settle the case at AllRise.com – An online community court room.
Just enter click on the case link Http://www.allrise.com/cases/Chicago_Realty_Group-vs-Amanda_Bonnen/208 , debate over it, and cast your vote to influence the real verdict.
No matter who's right or wrong, that statement was wrong and nasty. Makes me ask what horrible secrets haven't come out yet with THAT kind of attitude…
“We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization”
Ouch, talk about a smoking gun.
“And how many are seeing now that Horizon is a “sue first, ask questions later kind of organization”??? Hundreds of thousands, easily. (Could, literally, be millions. This is now a “trending topic” on Twitter.)”
It is millions, I'm following this from the UK and I've never used twitter.
Wow this article got huge attention, to make it to wall st journal you must be doing something right, To sue over that is kinda lame, but each to their own i guess. Great website by the way plenty of useful information.
Regards Lisa
I really hope that if this goes to court it's a situation of Horizon losing as it would open up a can of worms on a whole when it comes to social media websites. I've always found it somewhat strange when people get antsy about comments made about their business. Right of reply can cause more harm than good in these situations and sometimes it's easier just to let things run it's course. In the last 35 years I'm sure they've had worse comments and taking this person to caught to sue her has only brought the company to light.
good.
You are gonna take their check? I'd ask for a money order or cash.
You are gonna take their check? I'd ask for a money order or cash.
That is a truly a ridiculous decision on their behalf. The mind boggles.
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