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Chicago woman sued over defamatory Tweet


amanda-bonnen

A Chicago woman is being sued by her landlord for a Tweet she published on Twitter in May that claimed her apartment had mold.

The suit filed in the Cook County Circuit Court alleges that Amanda Bonnen published a false and defamatory tweet when shoe wrote that “Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks it’s okay.” Horizon Group Management is the management company for her apartment.

Local reports weren’t clear on whether Bonnen’s apartment did have mould or not (truth is a defense to defamation), but obviously Horizon doesn’t believe so, as they’re asking for in excess $50,000 for the under 140 characters Bonnen used on Twitter to make the statement.

Horizon Group Management further claimed in the suit that “it has been greatly injured in its reputation as a landlord in Chicago because of Bonnen’s Tweet.”

Bonnen’s account has been deleted, but a copy still exists in Google Cache. In case you’re wondering, Bonnen had 22 followers before she closed the account. I think someone needs to talk to Horizon about the Streisand effect pretty quickly, because that 22 people could end up being 22 million once news of their ridiculous suit spreads.











Comments


8 Archived Responses to “ Chicago woman sued over defamatory Tweet ”

  1. “that 22 people could end up being 22 million once news of their ridiculous suit spreads”

    Too late, I think. Expect “moldy apartment” and “horizon” to be trending topics before the end of the day.

  2. I hope the landlord gets screwed over in this lawsuit.

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    Jul 28, 2009

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  4. Well, if I were horizon, i would have contacted bonnen and apologized if there was mold. And if horizon had in fact been defamed at all by the tweet, They should have issued a statement through the press that was honest and saying that they will fix whatever problems with mold.

    People have the right to express their opinions about companies, public or not. Especially if it were true, which I believe it was. Why else would horizon get on the defensive so fast?

    They are looking ever worse by the way they are handling all this. poor saps. Kiss my butt horizon.

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