The First Amendment of the United States of America protects everything that this web site stands for including those who contribute to it. Companies often persue legal means of removing websites such as this one because of violations of trademark or the mere existence just pissing them off to no end. Lucky enough for us, the Court System in the United States has consistently ruled in favor of these type of sites because of Freedom of Speech.
The only time that gripe sites lose in court is if they are somehow making a profit from using the Trade name of the company they are griping about or receiving some kind of compensation or benefit from having the site exist. The good news here is that this website is completely non-profit and does not benefit its creators, propegators or contributors in any way more than satisfaction of educating and preventing others from falling victim to an evil empire.
Can I be sued for Defamation, Libel or Slander?
Not very likely, here is why:
- Defamation, Libel and Slander are defined as making FALSE statements about another person which causes them to suffer harm. The damage done to that person must be proved and substantiated as a specific amount of damage caused. It would be extremely difficult for someone such as a Farmers District Manager to prove a specific amount of money was lost because of something that anyone said about them.
- District Managers are public figures. They advertise. They do interviews with the newspaper. Spread their name all over as alleged pillars of the community. Public Figures cannot seek Defamation, Libel or Slander suits. In the US Supreme Court case of 1964 New York Times V. Sullivan, the Court ruled that "Actual Malice" had to be the intent. I lay terms, this means that another person would have to willfully and purposely make a statement that they knew was FALSE about that public figure to damage them. In the case of our District Managers, statements made on this site such as the quote allegedly made by Bob Ratkovich, towards a former Agent was witnessed by the agent and 4 other people. If the agent were to be brought into court alleging that the quote was "Actual Malace" the agent would have no choice but to Subpoena those 4 other witnesses and several other agents to testify to the character of the District Manager. In order for that District Manager to win his case against the Former Agent, all factual witnesses would have to testify in court (Lie) that he never made that statement AND all other agents subpoenaed to testify that that DM would be out of character to make such a statement. So in the case of proving Actual Malace, that DM would have a better chance winning the lottery than winning in court.
- Sue for what? As for the creator and other contributors of this site, our bank accounts have all been emptied by Farmers Insurance and their scam. If we get sued, what will be Farmers Victory? Take this site down? Nope, several mirrors are already negotiated and will come online days after this site would ever be removed from the internet. Judgement? Sure and we'll pay it back with what money? We're already screwed by the Farmers Agent system so why not just file Bankrupcy?
Its a bad idea for a DM to try to bring charges of Defamation, Libel and Slander against anyone affiliated with this site because:
- Statements and items published are true or not intentionally published as malace. Former agents of the DM if gathered would very likely substantiate or prove that even worse happenings have occured.
- Its a waste of money, with little to no chance no chance of winning a lawsuit the DM who's likely pissed off could spend thousands of dollars on lawyers who will still lose the case in court anyway.
The greatest thing about court cases is the testimony and evidence submitted becomes public domain. Text of a court case regardless of it being an excerpt or in its entirety, can then be published on the internet and never contested again. It would be impossible for words said in these types of documents to be wiped from history.
Remember, bad publicity spreads 100x faster than good. |
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