Got a beef with your employer? Think twice before taking it online.
A maker of medical equipment is accusing one of its former executives of defaming the company on Yahoo's investment message board, a charge the ex-employee vehemently denies. That might not be enough to keep him out of court, however.
Cohr (CHRI) said it believes Sandy Morford, its former chief operating officer, posted messages that hurt the company's reputation. The Chatsworth, California, company has already filed suit in Los Angeles against 50 John Does for breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, fraud, and eight other charges.
It wasn't immediately clear whether Cohr intends to sue Morford. Morford, now president of Genesis Technology, denies writing the messages and said that someone stole his online identity.
"In the interest of the shareholders of the company, of the other stakeholders, customers, and employees, [Cohr] felt it was the proper thing to do to spend the money and get to bottom [of it]," said Ray List, Cohr's president.
The trouble began in early summer when critical comments about Cohr began appearing on an investment message board on Yahoo Finance. Cohr said the messages were defamatory, malicious, and were posted to drive away customers and investors.
In August, Cohr filed a lawsuit against the unknown perpetrator. It also launched an investigation to find the identities behind the Yahoo screen names, and it subpoenaed Yahoo for information about the users' accounts.
List said Yahoo coughed up its records on the accounts, and showed that the email address of the poster matched Morford's ix.netcom.com address.
Morford, who was asked to resign from Cohr in June, said he didn't write the disparaging notes and that someone else might have used his address.
"Apparently, someone has misappropriated my address and signed on to Yahoo in an attempt to discredit me," Morford said Wednesday.
Cohr said it believes the postings were written by current or former employees. The postings described the company's future as "uncertain and unstable."
"If anybody in their right mind does even a little bit of research on Cohr before they accept a position, they'll realize their [sic] about to board a sinking ship," one posting said.
List would not say what Cohr will do next. Asked whether the company planned to sue Yahoo, he said, "We have all our options going forward."
One attorney said it's unlikely Yahoo can be held liable in a case like this.
"It is fairly well established that Yahoo cannot be held liable for libelous comments posted by third parties on Yahoo's bulletin boards," said Dave Kramer, attorney at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati.
Yahoo legal staff could not be reached for comment. But a Yahoo spokeswoman said, "We have to comply with valid subpoenas. We don't give out the information unless we are subpoenaed."
She pointed to the company's terms of service agreements and legal disclaimers posted on the site that warn investors about information they receive on the bulletin boards.
Meanwhile, Morford said Cohr is going after him because he's now a direct competitor. The allegations are "an attack on their part to discredit my organization," said Morford. "I am a competitor. I've taken business away from Cohr ... and other players. Cohr has obviously taken this personally."
And the postings continue. On Wednesday, a posting from an individual using the handle "ex_cohr" read: "We can say ANYTHING we want on this board as long as it is ONLY OUR OWN OPINIONS. :>)"
