Social Networking & Lawsuits
Posted By Mulvey Law on Oct 18, 2010 9:00am PDT
Recently, I saw a case lose value because of what the injured plaintiff had posted on her Facebook account. The plaintiff was injured in a motor vehicle accident. In her lawsuit, she claimed that as a result of the injuries sustained in the car accident, she was unable to do many of the activities she enjoyed prior to the accident, including golf. The defense attorneys found a picture that the plaintiff had posted on her Facebook account that showed her posing with three others on the first tee. Plaintiff explained that she had signed up for the charity tournament prior to being injured and decided that she would still go to the event although she did not actually play.
Whether or not the plaintiff actually played golf on that day is not the point. The point is that the picture gave the defense attorneys evidence to make the argument that plaintiff was lying about the extent of her injuries and, thus, could not be believed. As a result, the plaintiff settled her case for less money than she could have received had the picture not been available to the defense attorneys.
The story of that case reminds us what we should already know - that we must be very careful of what we post online because those postings can be viewed and used in ways that we can't imagine. If you are involved in a lawsuit, any posting has the potential to be used against you and you must be very careful about what you put on the web. This is especially true if you are making a claim for injuries as a result of an accident.
We here at Mulvey Law understand how to present the best case possible and avoid pitfalls such as damaging online postings. If you or a loved on has been injured through no fault of your own, please contact us immediately so that we can assist you through every step of the process.