glassdoor review and threat of being sued

[thelonelyones]

I wrote an honest negative review on glassdoor about a company I interviewed with. I used an email address which is not my normal one although I know glassdoor doesn't show your name and their site says they don't tell the organisation if the organisation asked. My review was accurate and professional, no swear words or anything like that. They are a small organisation. Lots of people warned me against applying but I did and didn't enjoy the interview experience. There aren't many glassdoor reviews due to their size. They work with, and mostly employ, people who have backgrounds of homelessness, addiction etc.
I've since received a nasty email from the owner along the lines of "we know it was you who wrote the review, take it off or we'll sue". I've not responded.
I am worried though. Should I take it off? Can they sue me? And what if they contact my current employer (I got a better job offer almost immediately afterwards). My company is a similar employer in a sector where most organisations know each other. I love my job. its a bigger organisation with lots of (positive) glassdoor reviews. I'm just worried that they will ruin it.
What do I do? Do I just ignore or do I give in and remove the review - bearing in mind other potential employees, including vulnerable people, could then have a similar experience.
Any lawyers, HR experts who can advise?
YABU - remove the review
YANBU - ignore the threat

I expect that they assumed. Depending on the number of people they interviewed I doubt it was difficult to work out. Or they sent one to everyone

Ignore their email.

Glassdoor is exactly that - a platform to post your experience. If it's factual then you have nothing to worry about.

I always check out Glassdoor reviews before interviewing for any jobs (also to double check the salary ranges).

This

You can’t be sued for defamation if it’s an honestly held opinion… this is exactly how film critics can slate films they hate.

Just ignore it and flag their email as spam, then forget about it.

Leaving reviews of interviews is fairly standard on Glassdoor, for those of your surprised by this.

A place I worked for has horrendous reviews on Indeed (again a charity working with very vulnerable people). I have been so tempted to write one in the same vein but have always been worried about them 'coming after me', although it would be absolutely truthful and honest.
This makes me even more worried for my ex colleagues who have written them

I'd respond telling them to stop threatening me or I'd make an official complaint.

You're not leaving a bad review for a mafia boss. How exactly do you think they're going to come after you?

The only possible down side is you maybe burnt your bridges if you want to work for them again, which I'm guessing you don't.

Fgs ignore them. They have no proof it's you (and deleting the review would identify yourself) and the whole point of glass door is to leave honest opinions of interviews and employment.

Can you edit it to add you were threatened with court action for your post?

Yep do this.

I'd email or ring them back questioning the email

I wouldn't think anything of it as long as what you said was true.

Also, "we know it was you who wrote the review, take it off or we'll sue." Was it Dr. Suess that you interviewed with? You don't often see threats that rhyme.

Haha- good point!! It was just so awful and traumatic and I still feel quite anxious thinking about it all.

Trust me, they cannot sue you.

In order to take you to the High Court, which deals with defamation, they have to pay the court 5% of the damages they expect to get from you.

They then have to pay a solictor £100 an hour to build the case. So, thousands of pounds.

They are also liable for costs if they lose which also comes to thousands.

In our society, reviews are allowed - of goods, restaurants, services employers, etc. So long as you didn't actually make upa serious and damaging lie. So the judge will be on your side from the start.

Then they have to PROVE to the court that you left the review, and then, and this is the best bit, they have to PROVE that they suffered a material loss by the things you posted. They have to prove that people read your review and then acted accordingly and that the employer lost something.

Theres no way they can prove that.

They would only be able to sue you successfully for defamation if they could show that your review was factually incorrect in a way that was defamatory to them (so getting details like the date or time wrong would be irrelevant). Any opinions you express are fine provided they are your honest opinions. Ignore them.

Reply back to them with "I have no idea what you're talking about, please stop harrassing me"

I wouldn't do this. That could be untrue and could be classed as defamatory. Nothing wrong, however, in editing the original review to say they have contacted you and threatened to sue.

This is one of the specific options on Glassdoor. I happily left a scathing review of one company’s interview process because every aspect of it was appalling. Maybe they were angry; maybe they didn’t give a damn. But maybe it helped someone who was uneasy about whether to apply to that company, or maybe even someone else in the company saw it and realised there was an issue.

OP - they’re trying to scare you. They can only prove it was you if you respond to the email; otherwise they’re only speculating. No lawyer is going to take on a defamation case if the client isn’t even sure they’ve got the right person. Ignore them and be glad you didn’t end up working there.

Actually, as other PPs have said, just ignore.

No, that is not a breach of GDPR.

Surely that depends on how bad the interview went. You can have an interview experience that is so bad that you decide tk turn down an offer even if they make one and yes you can give a review based on the experience.

It’s very difficult to sue over online reviews. They don’t have the power to make Glassdoor take the review down - which is why they have targeted you.
Instead of asking you nicely to edit or remove it they’ve gone in guns blazing.

The worst that would ever be likely to happen is to send you a letter setting out a list of the statements they want to be removed, but if they’re true and represent your “honest opinion” you don’t have to oblige. And they don’t even know for sure it was you.

I’d just ignore it completely.

You can’t remove the review as then they’d know it was definitely you who wrote it