Can I be sued for leaving a negative review of a company?

The short answer is yes, it’s possible. If your aim is to harm the reputation of the company, you could be sued. The law of defamation protects someone’s reputation from harm that is unjustified.

The longer answer? Yes it’s possible, but unlikely.

Proving defamation is hard

First, a defamatory review would need to feature your saying something untrue about the company. For example, if you were overcharged for something, and you write a negative review about that experience, that’s fair comment. But if you call the company a liar or a thief in that context, you might be exposed to a claim. Especially if you post multiple comments with a malicious intent. 

Second, the review has to be likely to damage the company’s reputation. Injured pride doesn’t count. The statement would have to lead an everyday person to think that the review would hurt the company’s brand/reputation.

The company would have to prove that your comments made a difference in a quantifiable way. They’d have to show that your comments led to a loss of sales or customers. Here again, context is relevant. How widely were your comments seen or heard? Is the company big and established enough to take the hit?

The law tries to balance protection from defamation against competing rights such as freedom of expression. You’re allowed to express your dissatisfaction with something. If you base your comments on facts and the review seems reasoned and calm, it’s less likely to be considered defamation. More likely the company will simply get in touch with you directly to try to put things right. (Protecting one’s reputation is about more than just suing anyone who says something negative about you.)

A negative review of a medical professional

Now, for a medical professional, how might this play out? Let’s say you have a bad experience at your physician’s office. You have the urge to vent in public. Before you write a negative review, consider first sending a private message to the clinic and ask for a direct response. 

If you don’t hear back, prepare your online review, and have a friend proofread it before you post it. Make sure the review is factual, concise and measured. Consider not using the physician’s name in the review (perhaps you can just mention the name of the clinic). And consider where you want to post it — on social media? On their Google profile? You want the review to reach people, but the more platforms you use, the more damaging it could be to their reputation.