Last year, we shared the news that a group of Yelp reviewers whose accounts had been deactivated were suing the website for back wages. The ex-reviewers claimed that they had performed the functions of an employee, with guidance and critique from Yelp management, by providing content that the site could sell ads against. U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg dismissed the case last week [More]
a cry for yelp
Yelp Reviewers File Class Action Lawsuit, Want To Get Paid
By 8.12.14
Last fall, while we were covering fake Yelp reviews of real businesses and real Yelp reviews of fake businesses, a lawsuit questioning the nature of online reviews in a different way was filed on the West Coast. The lawsuit was dismissed in February, but has since been filed again with different attorneys and a different lead plaintiff. Their argument? Elite Yelp reviewers provide a service to the site, and some reviewers are paid, so all of them ought to be. [More]
