Premise, a market data analytics firm, has filed suit against a group of anonymous reviewers on Glassdoor, an online employer review site. Premise is claiming the reviewers have caused irreparable damage to the company's brand by posting reviews Premise vehemently asserts to be false and defamatory, accusing the company of nepotism, "womanizing", mishandling federal Covid loans, and other alleged misconduct.
Premise Data Corporation filed the lawsuit in San Francisco County Superior Court on June 1, accusing those unspecified people of defamation for posting alleged false and damaging comments to the public forum.
Glassdoor is a website that offers employees the opportunity to essentially review the companies that employ them, from the inside. Glassdoor's reviews are governed by specific guidelines for contributors, including prohibitions on using profanity, requiring reviewers to protect a company's proprietary secrets, and rules forbidding the posting of ads or links, among others.
Dan Webb
| winston.com
According to its website, Glassdoor's policy states:
"Glassdoor doesn't take sides... Our reviewers tell us that they believe their reviews reflect their true experiences... So if you, or your lawyers, contact us to say that something in a review is untrue and defamatory, we don't know who to believe...we allow our users to stand by their reviews...
"You are entitled to post your anonymous opinions... and your speech should be protected under the First Amendment. However, you should be aware that statements of provable facts are subject to legal claims of defamation if your company and/or executives allege your statements are false."
Premise contends certain reviews posted on its page on Glassdoor went too far. Premise says the reviews were posted with the alleged intention of destroying the company's reputation by using inflammatory comments intended to discourage potential business or future career candidates.
Many of the remarks followed a similar edge, alluding to alleged nepotism, favoritism, "womanizing" and accused leadership of inappropriate relationships with subordinates or other female individuals.
Premise reported the suspected false/defamatory reviews to Glassdoor. Glassdoor investigated and removed the first comments but would not continue to accommodate when Premise again asked for the purported defamatory reviews to be removed. The complaint contends that the harm to Premise’s reputation was not remedied by the false reviews being removed from the website, particularly when the damaging reviews continued to be republished.
Since April 21, 2023, Glassdoor has refused to reasonably respond to inquiries from Premise’s attorneys, according to the complaint.
Founded in 2012, Premise Data is an international corporation which provides its clients with real-time intelligence. According to its website, Premise provides on-demand market research and analysis for businesses or international development operating using an analytics platform powered by a global network of contributors, data science, and artificial intelligence.
Premise is seeking general and punitive damages, injunctive relief to prohibit the unnamed defendants from publishing or making additional alleged false and defamatory statements, court costs and legal fees and demands a trial by jury.
Premise is represented by attorneys Michael P. Toomey, Dan K. Webb, Matthew R. Carter and Elizabeth S. Deshaies, of Winston & Strawn, of San Francisco and Chicago; and Lanny J. Davis, of Davis Goldberg Galper, of Washington, D.C.