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Home > Cash4Gold v. Liberis

Cash4Gold v. Liberis [1]

Submitted by DMLP Staff on Thu, 09/03/2009 - 18:46

Summary

Threat Type: 

Lawsuit

Date: 

03/12/2009

Status: 

Pending

Location: 

Florida

Verdict or Settlement Amount: 

N/A

Legal Claims: 

Defamation
Trade Libel
In March 2009, Cash4Gold sued Michele Liberis, a former employee, for defamation based on a post Liberis submitted to the consumer watchdog website Complaints Board.  As described in Cash4Gold's complaint, the posting contained numerous allegations of unsavory business... read full description
Parties

Party Receiving Legal Threat: 

Michele Liberis; Consumer Media LLC d/b/a Consumerist.com; Elizabeth Arden d/b/a ComplaintsBoard.com

Type of Party: 

Organization

Type of Party: 

Individual
Organization

Location of Party: 

  • Florida

Location of Party: 

  • California
  • New York
  • Florida

Legal Counsel: 

Gregory W. Herbert, Greenberg Traurig, P.A.; James P. Gitkin, Salpeter Gitkin, LLP
Description

In March 2009, Cash4Gold sued Michele Liberis, a former employee, for defamation based on a post Liberis submitted to the consumer watchdog website Complaints Board [2]. 

As described in Cash4Gold's complaint [3], the posting contained numerous allegations of unsavory business practices.  One of Liberis's claims was that checks were often held for several days before being mailed, thereby narrowing the window for consumers to invoke the company's 10-day satisfaction guarantee.  (Compl. ¶13)  The claims were later featured in a post [4] on Consumerist.com, a sister publication of Consumer Reports.

In June, Cash4Gold obtained a default judgment and injunction [5]
against the Liberis, prohibiting her from "publishing any more confidential,proprietary information, and any defamatory information on the
internet."  In July, Cash4Gold contacted [4] Consumerist.com and Complaints Board, demanding that they remove the posts referring to Liberis's allegations. 

When neither website complied, Cash4Gold filed a 19-page amended complaint [6], suing [7] Consumerist.com and Complaints Board for defamation per se and injunctive relief based on Liberis' original post and Consumerist.com's article detailing Liberis' allegations.

Update: 

9/11/2009 - Liberis filed a motion to set aside the default judgment against her.  In the court filing, Liberis claims she responded to Cash4Gold and explicity denied all allegations.  The motion also contains Liberis' answer.

Related Links: 

XComplaints:  Cash4Gold - Former employee exposing the scams of Cash4Gold [8]

The Consumerist: 10 Confessions Of A Cash4Gold Employee [4]

The Consumerist: The Article Cash4Gold Doesn't Want You to Read [7]

TechDirt:  Cash4Gold Sues Consumerist, Complaints Board Over Reports On Cash4Gold Practices [9]

The Consumerist: Cash4Gold defendant Liberis files to vacate default [10]

Details

Web Site(s) Involved: 

Consumerist.com

ComplaintsBoard.com

Content Type: 

  • Text

Publication Medium: 

Website

Subject Area: 

  • Defamation
  • Trade Libel
  • Consumer Ratings and Reviews
Court Information & Documents

Jurisdiction: 

  • Florida

Source of Law: 

  • Florida

Court Name: 

Circuit Court of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County, Florida

Court Type: 

State

Case Number: 

09-014536 (09)

Relevant Documents: 

PDF icon 2009-03-12-Cash4Gold Complaint.pdf [11]
PDF icon 2009-08-05-Cash4Gold Amended Complaint.pdf [12]
PDF icon 2009-06-25-Injunction.pdf [13]
PDF icon 2009-09-11 Liberis Motion to Set Aside Default Judgment.pdf [14]
CMLP Information (Private)

Threat Source: 

Blog Post

DMLP Logo


Source URL (modified on 08/20/2014 - 11:10pm): https://www.dmlp.org/threats/cash4gold-v-liberis

Links
[1] https://www.dmlp.org/threats/cash4gold-v-liberis
[2] http://www.complaintsboard.com/
[3] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-03-12-Cash4Gold%20Complaint.pdf
[4] http://consumerist.com/5144296/10-confessions-of-a-cash4gold-employee
[5] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-06-25-Injunction.pdf
[6] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-08-05-Cash4Gold%20Amended%20Complaint.pdf
[7] http://consumerist.com/5349663/the-article-cash4gold-doesnt-want-you-to-read
[8] http://www.xcomplaints.com/complaint/former-employee-exposing-the-scams-of-cash4gold-c2.html
[9] http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090902/0254396077.shtml
[10] http://consumerist.com/5357682/update-cash4gold-defendant-liberis-files-to-vacate-default
[11] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-03-12-Cash4Gold%20Complaint.pdf
[12] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-08-05-Cash4Gold%20Amended%20Complaint.pdf
[13] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-06-25-Injunction.pdf
[14] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-09-11%20Liberis%20Motion%20to%20Set%20Aside%20Default%20Judgment.pdf