Facebook Page Lands Beauty School Student in Court
Are you protected under the First Amendment when you express your opinions in an open forum like Facebook? When does freedom of speech go too far? Well, one beauty school in Illinois is testing that the limits of freedom of speech and the use of social networking sites like Facebook.
Salon Professional Academy of Elgin is suing one of its students for creating a Facebook page about the school where students could rant or vent about classes or instructors. The beauty school is suing Nicholas Blacconiere for unauthorized use of their logo and $50,000 for emotional damages caused by defamatory comments posted on the page. The lawsuit alleges that the defendents published “libel per se,” with statements that were unfounded, untrue and defamatory.
One has to wonder: can corporations or individuals start suing over Facebook posts? If so, this lawsuit could set a precedent on how students are held accountable for complaints or insults posted on the web.
What do you think? Should Nicholas Blacconiere be held legally accountable for his actions, or is this Illinois beauty school infringing upon his rights? Would the damage to Blacconiere’s reputation and future career in cosmetology be sufficient, or is paying financial damages necessary to punish him? BeautySchool.com wants to know!
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Tags: beauty career, Beauty School General, beauty schools, cosmetology careers, cosmetology school, cosmetology schools, facebook, Illinois cosmetology schools, lawsuit, salon professional academy
September 25th, 2009 at 8:23 am
I think that beauty school lawsuit is ridiculous. Maybe he shouldn’t have used the logo but the web is open forum for opinions.
September 25th, 2009 at 8:24 am
A case of having the right but not taking the responsibility as every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Sharing ones opinion is OK but soliciting damaging comments is something else entirely. I’d leave the judging to the court room though.
September 25th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Well, let’s put it this way – how would you feel if you were the head of a school that was really important to you and people took the opportunity to take public pot shots at you just because there was a public forum where they could do so ? Just because it’s on line and just because it’s Facebook, doesn’t mean it’s any different than an article in a magazine. Both are opinions, but since both are damaging to an institution’s reputation, people need legal recourse for both.