Can I be sued for badmouthing a doctor on a Facebook group?

Generally speaking, anyone can sue anyone at anytime for many things.

However, truth is absolute defense to libel. If you stick to writing only to things you know to be true, theoretically you cannot lose a lawsuit this doctor would file against you for libel.

However lawsuits like that can be stressful, expensive, and time consuming, more so if your state doesn't have anti-SLAPP laws.

If you've ventured into lying, speculation, or statements that could be false and cause material damage. There's a chance they could sue and win.

If you are served papers get a lawyer ASAP.

It's a complicated issue between a person's 1st ammendment right to express an opinion about someone or something vs deliberately spreading false information about a person or a business. Maybe get some legal advice on where you stand with your FB comments.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/763981002

Serious legal question wrote:

I am saying really bad things about him in our highly populous local Facebook group.Really bad things. Things got in my opinion are true, accurate, and deserving to be said, but might injure him tremendously, which I would very much like to see, because I truly despise the man. I hate him because he harmed me. I'm not doing anything criminal like making threats, I'm just saying a very strong language that I think he is a horribly incompetent doctor. Can I be sued for this?I believe his wife is a member of the Facebook group.

Yes, you can be sued. If you are attacking him in a public forum you are inviting it. Truth isn't necessarily a defence if it can be shown you are motivated to cause him professional or personal harm. In law, it's called malice.

Yes. You can be sued. My advice is to hide assets and contact an attorney.

...and get some help to overcome the hatred

If what you are saying is 100%, don't back down. Said doctor will have to disclose her/his records. You can demand her/his financial records (you may not get them). Doctor will have to sit for deposition. Eg. If you have cancer in your left arm and doctor removed your right arm which was 100% healthy, bury the doctor on F.B. You will have to hire a lawyer, but you will need a good malpractice attorney anyway.

If you stick to “I do not recommend Dr x for specific Y reasons “ and you are certain of those reasons and can show proof you are in the clear. If you embellish, exaggerate, assume or even generalize you are in trouble.

Wanted to add, just because he/she was rude to you doesn’t mean they are a rude person, and just because he/she did a lousy job with you doesn’t make them lousy at their job. Everybody has bad days and everybody makes mistakes. So be careful of that too. Unless you absolutely needed to, your best bet instead of bad mouthing the doctor is just take your business and recommendations elsewhere.

I'm not sure I believe you.

If he really did harm you, then you are the one who should be doing the suing. If you can't win the case against him, then you probably shouldn't be questioning his decisions/practice on a public forum. He can sue you for that. In my opinion, he should be suing you if this will effect his livelihood. I obviously don't know any of the details though.

There are avenues for addressing what he did that do not involve possible slander. You should use them instead of facebook.

Or....you could spare yourself the trouble and just keep your trash talk to group runs and avoid slandering a doctor into ruin in public. You could file a complaint or sue if he actually harmed you. If the only avenue you have is to trash a doc is on Facebook, you are the one who is probably in the wrong. Overall, you might just help yourself by trying to calm down and move on to other activities. To answer your question, yes, they can sue and one way or another it will cost you a ton of money. It might just be time for your to grow up a bit?

Armstronglivs wrote:

Yes, you can be sued. If you are attacking him in a public forum you are inviting it. Truth isn't necessarily a defence if it can be shown you are motivated to cause him professional or personal harm. In law, it's called malice.

Wrong. As the earlier poster said, truth is an absolute defense to libel.

There was one extremely controversial case about ten years ago where the First Circuit applied Massachusetts law to say that truth wasn't a defense if there was malice. The defendant made the mistake of not arguing that the First Amendment precluded liability for false statements, and the First Circuit considered the issue waived. The decision was subjected to nationwide, withering criticism and is considered an anomaly.

OP, as others have said, you CAN get sued for anything, and being involved in a lawsuit isn't fun. But generally you have little to fear from private libel plaintiffs. Most states have anti-SLAPP laws that allow you to get your attorneys fees paid by the plaintiff who brings a frivolous suit. You may have libel coverage in your renters or homeowners insurance as well. If the good doctor sues you, then you get discovery into his files to prove what you said is true.

Also, statements of opinion can't be libelous. That's a context specific inquiry. If you say, he did X, Y, and Z, and all of those are facts, then you say, "he's totally incompetent," it's clear that you're expressing an opinion based on X, Y, and Z. But it's possible to express an opinion in a way that an average listener would interpret to be a statement of fact based on first hand knowledge. The classic example is accusing someone of having committed a crime. If you say, "this guy misused company resources in a particular way," and then you conclude, "he embezzled," you're not going to be liable if it turns out that what the guy did doesn't meet the definition of embezzlement. It's clear that you're expressing an opinion based on the facts you shared. But if you just say, "I know this guy embezzled company funds," without any context, and it turns out that what he did is not technically criminal, then you're in trouble. Make sense?

Jesus, what a great country we live in.

2600 bro wrote:

Generally speaking, anyone can sue anyone at anytime for many things.

If you are served papers get a lawyer ASAP.

Do you live in America?

There's your answer.

I see the issue of malice is where there is an apparent difference between American and Commonwealth jurisdictions. I also understand in some US states truth is a complete defense but not in others.

'The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals, in a groundbreaking decision favoring private libel plaintiffs, has held that even a true statement – if published “maliciously” – can subject the speaker to libel damages. Applying Massachusetts law, and relying on a 1902 statute, the appeals court reversed the trial court’s judgment for a defendant who had published an email containing true, but unflattering, information about the plaintiff.'

Forgiveness (which is distinct from punishment) and resentment are opposites. To resent is to feel something's pain again. If I resent a harm done to me, I feel it again. If I forgive someone for a harm he did to me, I am less likely to renew its pain and I might be the primary beneficiary. Easier said than done, often, but give it a try.

Armstronglivs wrote:

I see the issue of malice is where there is an apparent difference between American and Commonwealth jurisdictions. I also understand in some US states truth is a complete defense but not in others.

'The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals, in a groundbreaking decision favoring private libel plaintiffs, has held that even a true statement – if published “maliciously” – can subject the speaker to libel damages. Applying Massachusetts law, and relying on a 1902 statute, the appeals court reversed the trial court’s judgment for a defendant who had published an email containing true, but unflattering, information about the plaintiff.'

It's not really a state-by-state issue. The case you cite is the one I was referring to, and it's the ONLY case that has held that truth isn't a defense if there's malice. The defense lawyers in that case made the terrible mistake (probably malpractice) of not raising a First Amendment defense. Nobody takes that case seriously, even other federal courts. The treatises and casebooks are all in agreement that truth is an absolute defense.

Incidentally, the court was probably right about the statute, which was enacted at a time when courts in the United States were not really enforcing the First Amendment at all. It's just that any statute that doesn't allow for truth as an absolute defense to libel is unconstitutional.

Serious legal question wrote:

I am saying really bad things about him in our highly populous local Facebook group.Really bad things. Things got in my opinion are true, accurate, and deserving to be said, but might injure him tremendously, which I would very much like to see, because I truly despise the man. I hate him because he harmed me. I'm not doing anything criminal like making threats, I'm just saying a very strong language that I think he is a horribly incompetent doctor. Can I be sued for this?I believe his wife is a member of the Facebook group.

Personally I think you are fine. You'd have much to gain from a lawsuit, and he'd have much more to lose.

Serious legal question wrote:

I am saying really bad things about him in our highly populous local Facebook group.Really bad things. Things got in my opinion are true, accurate, and deserving to be said, but might injure him tremendously, which I would very much like to see, because I truly despise the man. I hate him because he harmed me. I'm not doing anything criminal like making threats, I'm just saying a very strong language that I think he is a horribly incompetent doctor. Can I be sued for this?I believe his wife is a member of the Facebook group.

What’s he do to harm you?

you can be sued for lies that hurt the doctor's reputation/career, but if the doctor misdiagnosed you or something and you have proof, then feel free to attack away. if you have time on your hands, go read about the Chris Amann vs CM Punk lawsuit. it's a similar situation