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Yelp reviewers claim to be employees in lawsuit

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Re: Yelp reviewers claim to be employees in lawsuit

#21

Post by 300bps »

bhahn wrote: post #18

I wish the US legal system would make changes to discourage these types of frivolous lawsuits. It seems like many suits are intended to force the defendant to settle even though the suit itself has no merit. I wonder if the # of frivolous lawsuits would go decline if the suing party were forced to pay the defendant's legal fees if the suing party lost.

I wish the US legal system would make changes to discourage these types of frivolous lawsuits

Me too. But it probably won't for three reasons:

1. The civil litigation business is immensely profitable for attorneys

2. The number of people / organizations sued is small enough that they don't have a loud enough voice

3. Anytime someone advocates for reform (ex: loser pays) they will trot out the one case that so clearly calls out for justice and state how the reform would keep justice from occurring in this case

Re: Yelp reviewers claim to be employees in lawsuit

#27

Post by [deleted] »

codezero wrote: post #13

The only time (as far as I am aware) that a similar lawsuit was successful was when AOL had to pay out $15 million to their moderators. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL_Community_Leader_Program Some key reasons they were able to win were: 1) they had training 2) they had supervisors 3) they had to file reports and meet goals If they were operating autonomously, or even given some incentives (at the time they were giv…

[deleted]

Re: Yelp reviewers claim to be employees in lawsuit

#28

Post by larrys »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #14
moomin wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I reckon pg needs to pay me for the value I've added to this site. Not quite sure if I should charge a nickel or a dime.

It's obvious to me that compensation should come in the form of ownership in yc companies, pro-rated based on total karma. I think tptacek and patio11 will back me up on this.

You are joking but it's not a stretch for YC to in some way compensate high karma users who post on a continual basis.

I don't know what that compensation should be and I know it goes against the grain of the way things work everywhere and that people participate voluntarily (and derive their own benefit from it) but a token of thanks (of the monetary form) would be a good idea.

(And I'm not suggesting that someone with my karma level qualifies.)

Re: Yelp reviewers claim to be employees in lawsuit

#29

Post by brnstz »

You might say this is frivolous lawsuit, and I'd agree. The plaintiffs have zero chance of winning, there is no coercion, there is no semblance of employment.

But.

Take a moment to think. What is the value of a website like this, without the user-generated content? A Yelp with no reviews, no photos, etc. is just a phonebook. Alternatively, a restaurant review with no platform, no audience is just a journal entry. It's symbiotic.

Maybe that's obvious. Ok, so. Yelp gets paid. Why don't the reviewers get paid? Too easy to game? Too impractical? Because people will do it for free anyway?

Musicians and exhibitionists will do it for free, too. That doesn't mean they are creating no value. It would be good if Yelp reviewers could be paid. It would be good if it were possible to pay people for the value they create voluntarily.

Re: Yelp reviewers claim to be employees in lawsuit

#30

Post by larrys »

segmondy wrote: post #6
jmduke wrote: post #5

The precedent of such a suit would be staggering; I can't count on two hands the number of major Internet companies that derive the vast-majority of their content from user-generated content. Kinda weird to be fiercely on the side of a company I dislike, but I hope Yelp doesn't have to spend too much money on pointless legal fees here.

You write as if the suit has a chance. The suit has no chance, none, zilch, zero. They were not forced to write the reviews. Imagine me and you suing ycombinator, because our post on HN adds value to the site. How absurd.

" The suit has no chance, none, zilch, zero"

Agree that (from what I read) the "suit" has no chance.

But the job of a good attorney is to find a leg to stand on.

An attorney has taken the case.

A leg to stand on has been presented. From a quick (I mean literally quick) scan it appears that Yelp pulled one of the parties "Elite" status as an example.

The action here appears to present a case to get benefit out of Yelp for their arbitrary actions against the complainant. A case does not have to be winnable in order to derive benefit (note what patent trolls do that has everyone up in arms).

While the people here are not employees there is something wrong going on in a community (HN falls into this category) where people put in time and effort and then "privileges" are pulled without recourse, appeal or clear lines drawn.

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