Did you know that business owners, much like other citizens, can come together to file class action lawsuits? 
Although they are not as common as cases involving people who may have been harmed by the actions of a company, sometimes business owners can come together in an attempt to sue an entity that has harmed their profits and/or attempted to defraud them.
This occurred recently in California, when a group of business owners filed a class action lawsuit against the review site Yelp, accusing it of “extorting advertising money” by manipulating reviews posted to the site.
According to Courthouse News Service, the business owners involved in the case said that the online site “fiddled” with user reviews and wrote negative third party reviews in an attempt to convince the owners to buy advertising on the site.
The owners claimed that Yelp promotes civil extortion and violated California’s Unfair Competition Law. One owner claimed that two days after he refused to purchase advertising on the site, several five-star reviews disappeared from his Yelp review page.
Unfortunately, for the plaintiffs, a U.S. District Court in California ruled that the website’s conduct did not amount to extortion and that the business owners failed to prove that Yelp authored negative reviews or threatened economic loss.
I Am a Business Owner. How Can I File a Class Action Lawsuit?
Class action lawsuits allow people who have been affected by the negligence of a business to receive compensation. In this case, the business owners who experienced the alleged reviews and bullying by Yelp were attempting to sue on behalf of all business owners who also experienced similar issues.
If you own a business, or are a customer who has been harmed by the actions of one, you can attempt to file a lawsuit on the behalf of yourself and others. You can hold an entity liable, as a large group of people may have experienced problems because of carelessness or fraud.
If you have suffered financially because of the actions of company, and you think your case could reach class action status, please contact Gary S. Graifman, Esq. or schedule a free initial consultation or complete the form on this page.
Kantrowitz, Goldhamer & Graifman, P.C. – Class Action Lawyers
Source: http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/09/02/70979.htm
