Hassell v. Bird

In June 2012, Ava Bird (defendant) retained the Hassell Law Group, a law firm owned by attorney Dawn Hassell (plaintiffs) to represent her in a personal-injury matter. A few months later, Hassell Law Group withdrew from representation. In January 2013, a Yelp user identified as “Birdzeye B.” posted a one-star review of the Hassell Law Group on Yelp.com, a consumer-review website. The review accused Hassell and her firm of neglecting their responsibilities, failing to communicate, and ultimately abandoning the case for personal reasons. It warned prospective clients to avoid the firm. Hassell believed Bird authored the review and demanded its removal. Bird refused, stating that Hassell would have to accept her “permanent, honest review.” In April 2013, Hassell and her firm filed suit against Bird for defamation. Hassell intentionally did not name Yelp Inc. as a defendant, anticipating that Yelp would assert immunity under § 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). After Bird failed to respond, the court held a prove-up hearing and entered a default judgment awarding Hassell and the firm over $550,000 in damages. The court also ordered Bird to remove her Yelp reviews, enjoined her from posting any further commentary about Hassell or her firm online, and directed Yelp to remove Bird’s existing reviews from its website. Yelp challenged the removal order, arguing that it was barred by § 230. The court of appeals rejected Yelp’s arguments. Yelp petitioned the California Supreme Court for review.