Twitter Lawsuit is Lesson Learned

Did you see the $50,000 defamation lawsuit filed by an organization against a “tweeter”?

The lawsuit is a lesson learned that you may want to use to better prepare your people and your organization about the potential legal liabilities associated with sending a tweet about someone else or about another organization.

While I am not going to argue whether it is right or wrong, I want to bring attention to the personal details that the lawsuit exposes and how a person’s reputation or an organization’s reputation can be exposed no matter what the outcome of the court case.

If you scroll down on the verified complaint, you will see the entire string of tweets made by the defendant, which in some cases are not all that flattering.

So what should you do if you are a manager?  You can use this lawsuit to make sure your management and your personnel all understand your organization’s guidelines and ethics standards if they are tweeting about your organization or your customers or your partners.  I would suggest that you do not just blast out an e-mail, but make sure that management and all personnel understand the potential risks and liabilities with tweeting up the wrong tree.