Yes, a company can sue you for defamation, but whether it can win is a different question. The business has to prove every element of its claim, and several defenses — truth, opinion, and in many states an early anti-SLAPP dismissal — give an honest reviewer real protection. Threatening letters are common; successful lawsuits are not.
What a Company Has to Prove
A business bringing a defamation claim must establish four things: you made a false statement that appeared to be a statement of fact, you communicated it to at least one other person, you were at least negligent in making it, and the statement harmed the company’s reputation.1Legal Information Institute. Defamation
Publication is easy to satisfy. The moment one other person sees or hears the statement, that element is met. A Google review, a Facebook post, or a comment at dinner all count. The company does not have to show the statement reached a wide audience.
Fault is where cases get harder for the plaintiff. For a private company suing a private individual, most states require proof that you were at least negligent, meaning a reasonable person in your position would have known the statement was false or would have checked first.2Justia. Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323 (1974) If the company or its owner is a public figure, the standard jumps to “actual malice” — knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth.3Constitution Annotated. Amdt1.7.5.7 Defamation
Most defamation claims also require proof of actual financial harm. Lost customers, canceled contracts, declining revenue. Documenting a direct link between one review and specific losses is often where corporate defamation cases fall apart.
When Harm Is Presumed: Defamation Per Se
Some categories of false statements are treated as so inherently damaging that a company does not need to prove specific losses. These are called defamation per se, and they include falsely accusing a business of criminal conduct, claiming it engages in behavior that would destroy its standing in the community, or attacking its professional competence or fitness to do business.4Legal Information Institute. Libel Per Se
If your statement falls into one of these categories, the court can presume harm without any proof of financial loss. Falsely posting that a restaurant knowingly serves contaminated food, for example, would likely qualify, because it implies criminal conduct and attacks the business’s fitness to operate. Statements in this zone are the ones companies are most likely to win on.
Opinion Is Protected. Facts Are Not.
The First Amendment protects expressions of opinion, and the line between opinion and fact is often the deciding issue. “The food at that restaurant was terrible” is opinion — a personal judgment no one can prove true or false. “That restaurant reuses cooking oil from the dumpster” is a factual claim that can be verified or disproven, and if false, could support a case.
Courts ask whether a reasonable reader would take the statement as asserting something objectively verifiable. Context weighs heavily. A frustrated post on a personal page reads differently than a detailed, specific accusation on a business review site.
Do not rely on the phrase “in my opinion” to convert a factual claim into protected opinion. The Supreme Court has held that saying “in my opinion, Jones is a liar” still implies knowledge of underlying facts and can be just as damaging as the flat accusation.5Justia. Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co., 497 U.S. 1 (1990) If the statement implies a false factual basis, the opinion label will not save it.
Truth Ends the Case
If what you said about the company is true, the claim fails. Truth is an absolute defense, and it does not matter how much damage the statement caused or how upset the business is.1Legal Information Institute. Defamation Someone who posts online that a moving company broke their furniture can defeat the lawsuit by producing the photos, receipts, or messages showing what happened.
Your statement does not need to be perfectly accurate in every detail. Courts apply the “substantial truth” doctrine: if the core message is accurate, minor errors in the specifics will not defeat the defense. Saying a company was fined $10,000 for a safety violation when the actual fine was $9,500 would likely be treated as substantially true, because the inaccuracy does not change the overall meaning.
This matters when a business tries to build a case by picking at small factual errors in a review. The legal question is whether the statement, taken as a whole, leaves a different impression than the truth would.
Anti-SLAPP Laws and Filing Deadlines
Many defamation lawsuits filed by companies are not serious attempts to win damages. They are meant to bury the defendant in legal costs until the review comes down. These are called SLAPPs — strategic lawsuits against public participation — and more than 30 states plus the District of Columbia have laws designed to shut them down early.
Under a typical anti-SLAPP statute, if a company sues you over speech on a matter of public concern, you can file a motion asking the court to dismiss before expensive discovery begins. The burden then shifts to the company to show it actually has evidence that could win the case. If it cannot, the case is dismissed, and in most states with these laws, the company pays your attorney fees. Not every state offers this protection, and there is no federal anti-SLAPP statute, so location matters.
Defamation claims also carry short filing deadlines. In most states, a company has one year from publication to sue. About 19 states allow two years, and a few allow up to three. The clock starts when the statement is first published, not when the company discovers it. If a threatening letter arrives well after your review went up, the deadline may already have passed.
What It Costs If the Company Wins
If a business proves defamation, a court can award several kinds of damages. Special damages cover specific, documented financial losses the company can trace to the statement, such as canceled contracts or lost profits. General damages cover harder-to-measure harm like loss of goodwill and reputation. Nominal damages are symbolic — sometimes as little as one dollar — awarded when the court finds defamation but no meaningful harm.
Punitive damages are the most severe category and the hardest to get. A company can recover them only by proving actual malice, meaning you knew your statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.2Justia. Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323 (1974) These awards are rare and reserved for clearly intentional conduct.
Companies sometimes also ask a court to order the statement removed. Courts are cautious about that kind of order because prior restraints on speech raise First Amendment concerns, but it does happen when defamation has been proven.
One Boundary Worth Knowing
The federal Consumer Review Fairness Act voids contract clauses that try to prohibit or penalize honest reviews of a business you dealt with.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 45b – Consumer Review Protection It does not override defamation law. The statute explicitly preserves a company’s right to bring a civil defamation claim if the review contains false statements of fact. In other words, a non-disparagement clause cannot silence you in advance, but the law is not a shield if what you wrote is actually defamatory.
What to Do If a Company Threatens to Sue
The first contact is almost always a cease-and-desist letter, not a lawsuit. These letters demand takedown and often threaten large financial consequences. Receiving one is unsettling, but many are bluffs designed to pressure a quick removal.
Do not respond impulsively, and avoid discussing the letter publicly. Anything you say in reaction — especially on social media — can become evidence later. Preserve everything: the original statement, any evidence supporting its truth, communications with the company, and the letter itself.
Then consult an attorney who handles defamation cases. A lawyer can evaluate whether the company has any real claim, whether your state has anti-SLAPP protections, and whether the statute of limitations has run. In many cases, a well-drafted legal response ends the matter without litigation.
If your statement was genuinely false and you know it, voluntarily correcting or removing it can limit your exposure. About 33 states have retraction statutes that treat a timely correction as evidence of good faith and can reduce recoverable damages. Removing a post is not an admission of liability, but talk to an attorney before you act so the decision does not create new problems.
Before you pay a retainer, check any homeowners, renters, or personal umbrella policies you carry. Some include optional personal injury endorsements that cover defense costs for defamation claims. It takes five minutes and can change the math on the whole dispute.